South Africa's tech startup companies Khula and Ukheshe Technologies continue to make major strides while solidifying their presence across the African continent.
The KPMG Global Tech Innovator launch which highlighted Africa as the next global growth and investment frontier has named Khula! the winner of the KPMG Private Enterprise Tech Innovator in Africa competition, while Ukheshe took second place.
The Agri-Tech startup which provides software tools to enable and grow agriculture and food businesses has expressed gratitude as it looks to represent the continent globally.
“I am incredibly humbled that we have been chosen as the overall winner to represent Africa on the global stage, more especially because we are in the process of rolling out the Khula! Inputs App,” the chief executive officer at Khula!, Karidas Tshintsholo said in a statement.
“None of this would have been possible without my incredible team. The competition was incredibly intense, and a lot of the finalists were at a far more advanced stage than we are – this makes it even more important for us to bring our A-game in Lisbon,” added Tshintsholo.
Another major winner is a South African fintech company, uKheshe.They acknowledged and expressed appreciation for the role played by KPMG through creating a platform for entrepreneurs to meet other entrepreneurs and stakeholders.
“We are delighted with our second-place win and want to thank KPMG for such a great opportunity. It was made very evident throughout this experience that Africa will remain one of the key hubs of innovation and we predict that the next decade will be significant,” said Hayward.
Hayward said it is clear that opportunities for businesses like Ukheshe are now global.
He said Africa is the world's fastest-growing market and it is ripe for technological disruption. Fintech funding has also doubled year on year for the last five years hitting $2.4 billion in 2020. This creates an environment that is ripe for another unicorn according to Hayward.
“There are currently six unicorns across the continent with many racing to capture a share of the fintech pie. The key to success is the rapid scaling across the continent. This is not only good for growth but an imperative for risk management to help manage regulatory or country risk in a diverse environment,” he said.
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