Visa Selects 21 African Fintech Startups for Sixth Accelerator Cohort

Visa has launched the sixth cohort of its Africa FinTech Accelerator, bringing together 21 fintech startups from nine African countries operating across 24 markets. The latest cohort kicked off in Accra, Ghana, with startups from Niger, Togo and Seychelles joining the programme for the first time.

The startups cover areas including stablecoins, payments, agent-based commerce, sustainable finance and financial infrastructure, giving the cohort a wide range of fintech solutions targeting African markets.

New Markets Join the Accelerator

Among the new participants is Sako from Niger, the first company from the country to join the programme. The fintech focuses on simplifying money movement and financial transfers.

Borderless from Togo has also joined the cohort, while Seychelles is represented by Fusepay, the first company from the country to participate. Fusepay is developing an AI-powered operating system that combines ordering, inventory, invoicing, collections, payments and financial reconciliation for businesses. The company is regulated by the Central Bank of Seychelles as a payment services provider.

The cohort also includes Agridex, which is building infrastructure for cross-border trade and payments and says it currently facilitates money transfers across 35 markets.

Focus on Growth and Market Expansion

Egypt is also represented through fintech companies Fincart and ParlexAI. Fincart provides technology for e-commerce sellers, covering shipping management, cash collection, customer communication and financing processes. ParlexAI develops AI infrastructure for financial institutions, including automated customer service, collections, onboarding and verification.

Another participant, Remi, is building infrastructure to connect different payment and settlement networks and support cross-border money movement across emerging markets.

The three-month hybrid accelerator combines an onboarding week, 10 virtual weeks, an investor week and an in-person Demo Day. Participants receive training in areas such as product design, marketing, finance and sales, alongside one-on-one mentoring and specialised fintech training from Visa.

Investment Opportunities

The programme also gives startups an opportunity to present their products to investors during Demo Day. Visa and Plug and Play may consider participating companies for investment, with Visa expecting up to 50% of the cohort to receive investment opportunities, subject to individual evaluations.

Visa launched the accelerator in 2023. The programme has since reached more than 100 startups across five previous cohorts, with companies from more than 35 countries taking part.

The latest cohort gives Visa another route into Africa's fintech ecosystem, while giving participating startups access to training, industry partnerships, investors and potential opportunities to expand across the continent.