Tech in Africa
London-based OkHi just raised £1.4M through Angel Investor Network. The UK/Kenya startup hopes to solve the addressing challenges in emerging economies. The digital addressing startup is registered in London but headquartered in Nairobi. Angel Investment Network is the world’s largest online angel investment vehicle.
OkHi estimates the problem it intends to solve affects 4 billion people internationally and runs to the tune of billions of dollars. The company was founded in 2014 by Timbo Drayson a former employee with Google for 7 years and is attributed to leading the charge on Google Maps to emerging markets. He also built Chromecast.
OkHi’s technology allows businesses to geolocate their customers, verify and navigate without getting lost. Its main intention is to solve address verification arising from financial services. The company recently entered the Nigerian market in a partnership with the country’s largest bank Interswitch.
According to Timbo Drayson, it is just a matter of time before a physical address become s a human right. Everyone on the planet deserves access to much-needed services at their doorstep.
In a 2018 interview with Closing Bell CNBC Africa, Timbo Drayson, Co-founder, and CEO explained their distinction from geolocation providers such as Google Maps in that their app is more about helping locate people rather than location only. Their business model offers a great way for businesses to locate where their customers are clustered and help in making location decisions. They also cooperate with taxi and ride-hailing companies such as Uber and e-ambulance service providers. OkHi app has also featured on CNN.
