Chinese smartphone manufacturer Transsion Holdings the company behind Tecno, Infinix and itel is entering into a partnership with Kenyan venture fund, Wapi Capital to source and fund African Fintech startups. Wapi Capital is the venture fund of Kenyan fintech startup Wapi Pay—a Nairobi based company that facilitates digital payments between African and Asia via mobile money or bank accounts.
This news was first reported by Techcrunch which said that investments for the new partnership will come from Transsion’s Future Hub, an incubator and seed fund for African startups opened by Transsion in 2019.
In this partnership, Transsion will provide the funds while Wapi Capital will help determine the viability and scale of the startups, including due diligence and deal flow.
Related story: Transsion to raise 3 billion yuan (or $426 million) in an IPO
According to Transsion Future Hub Senior Investor Laura Li, the initiative will go live in September 2019 and Transsion will work with Wapi Capital to select early-stage African fintech companies for equity-based investments of up to $100,000.
Though the exact size of the fund has not been disclosed, Transsion will consider ventures from all 54 African countries. And priority areas include adtech, fintech, e-commerce, logistics, and media and entertainment.
Interested startups can reach out directly to either organization.
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