Nadya Eka Lestari
TechInAfrica — Jamii Cities, a startup focusing on property platform connecting the needs of the best tenants with the best landlords, has been awarded an additional grant funding by AlphaCode of R450,000.
This follows Jamii Cities and other startups’ completion of AlphaCode Incubate program consists of one year of intensive mentorship, startup principles boot camps, and being connected with an extensive network. The eight selected startups were crowned entrepreneurial packages of R2 million each in 2018.
The business draws, selects, onboards, and rewards tenants for good financial behavior related to rental payments, which incentivizes a longer stay in Jamii Cities partner portfolio properties and drives its vision to help build smart and connected cities.
In October 2018, Rand Merchant Investment Holding (RMI), through AlphaCode and the support of BofA Securities (previously Bank of America Merrill Lynch) and Royal Bafokeng Holdings, awarded entrepreneurial packages valued at R16 million to eight of South Africa’s most promising financial services startups. The packages consisted of R1 million in grant funding and R1 million in support.
Showcasing at the demo day, half the businesses had positively pivoted their initial offerings after applying principles learned and guidance from their mentors. At the event, the eight businesses had eight minutes to pitch and demo their solutions, which was followed by questions from the judges.
Jamii Cities was described as having “a scalable, defensible business model which could grow exponentially over the next few years”.
“I contemplated doing an MBA before the Incubate program, but I have gained so much more from this experience,” said Adrian Taylor, a co-founder of Jamii Cities. “I have built a network, got great advice, was pushed hard to do better and had my ideas challenged to produce the best results. I highly recommend the AlphaCode Incubate experience.”
Andile Maseko, head of Ecosystem Development at AlphaCode, said AlphaCode was assisting to build a pipeline for SA’s investment community in the fintech space, particularly for angel investors who are ready to invest in and support these black-owned startups.
“Events like this also show the impact we’re making, through AlphaCode, in the maturing of the fintech ecosystem. We ‘supersized’ the program this past year and will also continue to mentor the stronger businesses that have been part of this cohort. We believe the next Discovery or OUTsurance will come through entrepreneurs who we partner with in this way,” Maseko explains.
The Incubate program has released R21,5 million in funding to 23 Black-owned financial services businesses since its beginning four years ago.
Source: techfinancials.co.za
