Kenyan mobile nano credit firm Mobile Decisioning (MoDe) has been named the winner for the maiden IBM Africa Smart Camp at Tech4Africa.
The start-up took honours for its innovative technology-enabled emergency airtime payments business solution.
The event, staged for the first time in Cape Town, saw four finalists presenting their ideas. To qualify and participate in the programme, the companies had to be privately owned start-ups actively engaged in developing a software-based product or service.
The winner, MoDe, is a two year-old company with over 50 employees, and a presence in five countries.
"MoDe and all the finalists of SmartCamp demonstrated great tech innovation for SA and the African continent. Its solution addresses a unique need in the market and is infinitely scalable which demonstrates the global aspirations we'd like to encourage in our partner start-ups,"said Clayton Booysen, ISV and developer relations lead for IBM SA.
"We are excited about assisting MoDe being to the next level in its business venture. What's more exciting is that its supporting teams, business model and future plans are solid and will attract positive attention of the investment community to help accelerate their commercial aspirations." adds Booysen.
MoDe will compete in the regional finals of IBM's Global Entrepreneur of the Year competition in Sao Paulo in December. It will also gain support and mentorship from an IBM team of experts to prepare for the competition as well as exposure to the IBM venture capital and partner ecosystem.
Start-ups who participate in IBM's Global Entrepreneur initiative receive access to free software, as well as a team of dedicated project managers to assist in product development through the global network of 40 IBM Innovation Centres.
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