Breakthrough Mobile Technology in Africa Receives a Financial Boost
Two companies committed to reducing poverty in Africa by expanding markets and empowering consumers have joined forces, providing a major boost to a breakthrough mobile technology already changing the way the continent does business. In keeping with its core mission of supporting innovative firms in emerging markets, Investment Development, an investment fund, provided a significant injection of capital to SlimTrader, a rapidly growing e-commerce firm that developed Africa’s first mobile-purchasing platform.
“Our investments are based on the premise that scarcity in emerging markets is caused more by distribution shortfalls than resource shortages,” said Miguel Granier, founder and director of Investment Development. “Technology is finally enabling a proactive approach to distribution, and SlimTrader is on the cutting edge of that coming revolution. As lead investor, we just bought ourselves a front-row seat.”
Based in Seattle, SlimTrader’s proprietary technology allows consumers to shop for goods and services via their mobile phones. It’s an advancement that’s helping Africans overcome continent-wide challenges in critical infrastructure and limited broadband access. Because of SlimTrader, wait and travel times for simple tasks, such as purchasing ferry tickets along Lake Victoria, have been virtually eliminated. As a result, business is getting done and the lives of the continent’s working poor are slowly but surely improving.
“Thanks to Investment Development’s generous support, we’ll be able to further expand our efforts to provide previously unavailable economic opportunities to Africans,” said Femi Akinde, SlimTrader’s founder and CEO. “Our mobile platform may be supported by a leapfrog technology, but it’s our value system that fuels the engine. It’s a value system that I’m happy to say Investment Development shares.”
Invested Development manages the BSP Fund, a seed-stage investment fund committed to supporting entrepreneurs with radically affordable innovations in alternative energy and mobile technologies. Our mission is to reduce poverty in emerging markets through risk capital investments in the most innovative start-ups targeting these sectors.
SlimTrader is a Seattle, Washington-based e-commerce service that enables companies and organizations to offer consumers the ability to easily discover, preview, and purchase goods and services from their mobile phones.