Kenyan crypto startup, Kotani Pay, has won a $100,000 grant in the 11th round of Stellar community fund (SCF), courtesy of Stellar Development Foundation.
Kotani Pay is a technology stack that connects blockchain protocols to local payment channels such as M-PESA in Kenya. Fintech companies integrate Kotani’s technology seamlessly into the local payment channels accessing a reliable exchange service to reach a wider customer base.
Thanks to the platform, users can access the blockchain via Unstructured Supplementary Service Data (USSD). USSD is the primary mode of the mobile interface for a majority of the population in developing countries.
The platform makes revenue through transaction fees when users transact, in addition to consultancy fees and advisory services. The platform’s market include humanitarian organizations, gig workers, and savings and lending groups.
The grant program started with a 4-day virtual Bootcamp on the SCF Discord where the selected teams went through an intensive Design Sprint Process created by DFS Lab. After the Bootcamp, 47 out of 50 teams pitched their projects on the SCF discord. In the end, 21 projects were awarded their requested budgets.
“A big thank you to the Stellar Development Foundation team for this opportunity. This win will play a big role in our growth and expansion plans for the year 2023. And a special thank you to our technical mentor, Rick Groothuizen, for his guidance throughout the Bootcamp.” – Kotani Pay
A panel of 45 judges drawn from both the Stellar Development Foundation and the greater Stellar community and ecosystem voted to award 21 teams their requested budgets, and to give away a grand total of over 13M worth of $XLM.
Winning teams include:
- Horizon as a Service
- Flora
- StellarCarbon
- Space Walk
- A Scam Flagging System
- WireCash
- Zig3V2
- Paystreme
- Kotani Pay
- sTeX
The Stellar Foundation says it will open submissions for the next iteration of SCF early2023.
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