Denis Opudo
The Pawame startup is located in both Kenya and the UEA. The startup provides poor communities with affordable, clean and distributed solar energy. Furthermore, it has changed the lives of more than 20,000 people wherever they have set up a base. The startup has made it easier to serve the poor customers. This takes place through their mobile money repayment method. It can also develop credit profiles for its customers. The credit profiles come from the data collected from digital payments. This helps the startup to create a strong financial relationship with their customers.
Pawame is amongst a group of 50 finalists to take part in the Payment and Fintech Technologies categories. This will be at the 10th annual SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event. The 50 finalists came from the 600 companies that applied for the competition. The SXSW Accelerator is the 10th event of South by Southwest (SXSW) Conference & Festivals. Various startups across the world use the event to showcase their technology innovations. This is done by a group of experienced judges and a live audience. The final event will take place from 9th to 18th March 2018 in Austin USA.
Payment and Fintech Technologies category will run for two days. The event will take place on 10th and 11th March 2018 at the same venue. But the accelerator will comprise of finalists across 10 categories. The categories include Health & Wearables, Payment & FinTech, and Social & Culture. There are also Augmented & Virtual Reality, Entertainment & Content, and Hyper-Connected Communities. Sports & Performance Data, Payment & FinTech, Transportation and Enterprise & Smart Data complete number.
However, SXSW is not the last stage for Pawame to get finances. The startup also needs to access more financers, supporters, and partners. This can only be possible it sources from other platforms other than SXSW. Their audience also needs sensitization on the startup’s main goal. This is a good challenge to the startup. This is because it needs to compete with other startups in the market. SXSW has provided the platform for some great global innovation and technologies. They also gave the platform to developers and CEOs. The platform has helped them parade their solutions to potential partners and investors. More than 70% of these startups have managed to get funding of more than $4.63 billion. Investors have acquired 16% of the companies making them to easily meet their goals.
