Nairobi-based, Africa-focused seed capital fund investing $25,000 to $200,000 in startups in Africa, Savannah Fund has said it will be taking more African startups to Silicon Valley if all goes well with Cardplanet Solutions which was recently accepted into 500 Startups.
Speaking to TechMoran today on the besides of the Future of Travel is Online Seminar in Nairobi, Mbwanah Ally, the founder and Managing partner of Savannah Fund said taking Cardplanet to Silicon Valley will help them be exposed and learn from other peers so as they can run their business better back home. The fund values international exposure and training and expects to take more African startups to Silicon Valley, where Google, Facebook among others are based.
If Cardplanet is not distracted, the training will be invaluable and will be life changing. Mbwana told TechMoran the fund will take one or two then increase the number with time.
Cardplanet became the first Kenyan startup to be accepted into Silicon Valley’s 500 Startups and also held a lecture at Stanford University talking about Mobile banking and entrepreneurship in Africa.Cardplanet Solutions Limited has been there since 2011. In 2012 it was accepted into Nailab’s accelerator then briefly at 88mph and then recently at Mbwana’s Savannah Fund where it got mentorship and funding to launch a number of products. Cardplanet Solutions first product was a school Smart Card for school fees, attendance among others running on its “chip-to-cloud” technology. The startup is also into Health, Identity, Payments and Loyalty.
Card Planet joins Ghana’s Dropifi to be the second African startup to join the 500 strong companies.