On March 21, 2025, Safaricom held an investor demo day to celebrate the achievements of nine startups from the inaugural cohort of its Spark Accelerator Program.
The program, launched in collaboration with M-PESA Africa and Sumitomo Corporation, aims to empower Kenyan startups through funding, mentorship, and market access. The nine companies showcased innovative solutions across embedded finance, SME productivity tools, digital content, healthcare, and fintech.
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The startups include HealthX Africa, VunaPay, BlackRhino VR, Twiva, Chpter., Churpy.io, Nobuk Africa, FaidiHR (Safaricom Spark 24), and Chumz.io. These ventures were selected for their potential to address societal challenges and drive impactful change.
Peter Ndegwa, CEO of Safaricom, emphasised the program’s focus on providing more than just financial support: “We have restructured the program to address the challenges that hinder early startups from growing.”
Participants benefited from technical support to develop mini-apps embedded into Safaricom’s M-PESA platform, enabling access to over four million users. Beyond the three-month accelerator period, startups will continue receiving guidance from Safaricom and its partners to scale their solutions across M-PESA’s eight markets.
Second cohort applications open soon
Following the success of the first cohort, Safaricom announced the launch of applications for the second phase of the Spark Accelerator Program. Entrepreneurs can apply between April 1 and May 15, 2025. This phase targets early-stage startups in sectors such as fintech powered by artificial intelligence, SME productivity tools like e-commerce enablement, and content creation, including local gaming and mobile advertisements.
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The program offers participants access to Safaricom’s customer base of over 30 million users and AWS Activate credits worth $25K for technology support.
Additionally, startups will gain mentorship from industry leaders and networking opportunities with venture capitalists. Female-led companies are strongly encouraged to apply.
Sitoyo Lopokoiyit, Managing Director of M-PESA Africa, highlighted the program’s broader impact: “Startups will create innovations that connect customers and businesses on M-PESA to more opportunities while providing them with even more value.”
Safaricom’s Spark Accelerator Program continues to foster Kenya’s tech ecosystem by nurturing promising startups ready for growth while addressing economic challenges through innovation.