Unique SME financier wins the Kigali Seedstars competition

Rwanda’s factoring startup, BeneFactors won the Seedstars Kigali competition over the weekend, beating stiff competition from 8 other startups. The finals took place at Westerwelle Startup Haus in Kigali. Seedstars is a largest seed-stage startup competition for emerging economies. The Kigali round of this competition brought together nine startups to pitch for a ticket to travel to Lausanne, Switzerland where the global competition will take place. In the end, BeneFactors was the winner and the startup will represent Rwanda at the next year’s Seedstars Global Summit. At the global competition, each contest stands a chance to pitch and win up to US$1 million in equity investment. BeneFactors provides unsecured working capital solutions to small and medium-sized enterprises in Rwanda that would usually find it hard to access working capital. Factoring is a financial service, where future payments from buyers are sold to a third party. The firm works with pending invoices or purchase orders for delivery. Their support enables businesses to continue working when payments delay – an issue that slows the delivery of other jobs. BeneFactors can provide up to 70 per cent of an invoice value within 24 hours of signing agreements. It is a competitive product that is unique in Kigali, which owners believe gave them the edge over the competition. Olivia Zank, the founder of BeneFactors, told The New Times that it was not only the uniqueness of the product that made them outstanding but also the business model they use. “I think it’s better to mention that we really have a strong business model behind our solution. Not only do we have a good product and exciting technology, we are also making more money than we are spending,” she said. For Olivia, winning a spot at Seedstars Global means that it is a great platform for them to be able to talk about their company and what they do, but also their vision for the future. So far, they have already secured about 330 deals since their operations kicked off last year. The startup was competing against other startups like Raisin (an online ticketing application), eJobu, Tiva Motos, Bag Innovation, the Einstein, Comparisol, Favouriapps, and BLAIVA (Blind Artificial Intelligence Vision Assistance). The competition’s panel of judges includes CMU-Africa’s Crystal Rugege, Ephraim Rwamwenge of Rwa Business Group, Guido Von of Westerwelle Startup Hub, Tanya Mulamula, Claudia Makadristo, and Barrett Nash. According to the organisers, this year’s local competition attracted about 60 applicants. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Unique SME financier wins the Kigali Seedstars competition