Kwara, is an online and mobile banking platform for financial cooperatives (credit unions and community banks). In September, Google for Startups UK launched our first-ever Africa Immersion cohort, a 12-week program to bring expertise from Google and London startups to tech startups from Africa. They chose ten startups from our Launchpad Africa program, a network of tech startups around the world, who can share learnings, support and do business with each other. And they wrapped up last week in Lagos, where they brought key investors from the UK to meet with the founders.
What Kwara does
They provide secure, simple and affordable online and mobile banking for cooperative financial institutions and their members, who are often excluded by traditional banks. Starting in Kenya, our mission is to make sure that these institutions can meet their members’ financial needs instantly, helping them avoid expensive predatory alternatives.
How it works
The first sector is financial cooperatives, also known as credit unions and community banks. The technology helps them acquire and retain more members, secure their members’ funds, and increase their own revenues. Members in turn benefit from increased convenience, transparency, peace of mind and more complete credit profiles. And since they link our banking platform to the formal financial sector, the members can also access shared channels such as ATM networks and widespread agent infrastructure.