The Cameroonian app, Koree, emerged as the winner of the 6th edition of the 2023 Ecobank Fintech Challenge. Koree managed to distinguish itself in a field of over 1,490 fintech participants in the competition.
We're excited to announce @koreeafrica as the WINNER of the #EcobankFintech2023!
@koreeafrica takes home the $50,000 no-strings-attached cash prize!A big congratulations to them!
#EcobankFintech2023 #Fintech pic.twitter.com/X6mG2LQvzk— Ecobank Fintech (@ecobank_fintech) October 6, 2023
Koree, founded and led by Magalie Gauze-Sanga, is on a mission to address the problem of dealing with small change in Francophone Africa.
Here is a list of the winners:
- Koree (Cameroon) – 1st (Winner), prize of $50,000
- Makuta (DRC) – 2nd, prize of $10,000
- FlexPay – 3rd, prize of $5,000
The above 3 were selected as winners out of a total of 8 finalists.
The finalists, covered in great detail here, included:
- FlexPay Technologies (Kenya)
- IPOXCap AI (South Africa)
- Kastelo (South Africa)
- Koree (Cameroon)
- Kori Tech (Senegal)
- SmartTeller (Nigeria)
- Rubyx (Belgium)
- Wolf Technologies (DR Congo)
Koree provides a service where users can receive their small change directly on their mobile phones from vendors who have established partnerships with the startup. This helps address the challenge of dealing with small denominations of currency.
Koree’s application includes a cashback system that enables its users to recoup a portion of their spending as the saved money is stored on a digital fidelity card within the app, and users can subsequently use these funds to make purchases at partner stores. This feature not only provides users with increased flexibility but also promotes financial inclusion by encouraging responsible saving and spending.
Magalie Gauze-Sanga, the Founder of Koree, career path includes serving as the Regional Head of Financial Services at JumiaPay for West Africa. She also became part of the African Women in Fintech & Payments network. Before founding Koree, she held positions as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) at Julaya and Head of Payments at Anka.
“I’m very happy to have won this challenge”, said the Cameroonian, whose application had been rejected the year before.
“We applied last year [2022], but alas, being still in the initial phase with only a few months of existence, we weren’t very successful, which blocked our way to selection. We’ve come back much stronger for this edition,” she added.
Koree plans to expand its operations into Côte d’Ivoire by the end of 2023 capitalizing on the opportunity presented by the African Cup of Nations (AFCON), which the country is set to host.
Koree boasts approximately 11,000 users and has established partnerships with around 40 shops. In 2023, the fintech company has facilitated a total of 40,000 transactions in Douala, as reported by its founder and CEO.
Koree has also secured €20,000 in funding from the Cameroon Angels Network (CAN) to support its expansion and growth endeavors.
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