GreenHouse Capital invests in Kenyan fintech company
Lagos-based fintech investment company GreenHouse Capital has invested in Kenyan startup Popote which is solving the problem of financial control by leveraging technology. The company’s product, PopotePay, is a platform that enables businesses to handle their outgoing payments digitally, supported by a best practice workflow: budgeting, payment initiation, authorisations, record keeping and accounting. This is all tied together with a best in the class user interface that is easy to use.
According to Sam Wanjohi, the founder and CEO of Popote, making payments in the old-fashioned way wastes time, risks fraud, destroys productivity and suppresses growth.
“PopotePay allows businesses to link and pay out of multiple bank accounts or mobile money wallets. Completed transactions are stored alongside their notes, attachments, authorisation history and accounting general ledger meaning the accounting part is also done. At the click of a button, records can be retrieved for use in preparing management or audited accounts. The entire process is seamless,” he explains.
Popote’s goal is to see businesses of all sizes making day-to-day payments with its solution – petty cash, suppliers, utilities, wages, payroll and taxes – and in doing so, enabling accountants, managers, and owners to use their time on more impactful activities rather than drowning in mundane and repetitive administrative ones such as data entry and reconciliation.
“The high rate of failure of African businesses is largely as a result of poor expense management or internal funds misappropriation. With PopotePay, employees can be empowered without loss of oversight or controls,” says Wanjohi.
Wanjohi has a deep personal understanding of the impact of relying on conventional payment methods from managing expenditure in his past venture. It was there that he decided that stagnated growth and becoming a slave to the business were both unacceptable options.
“There are only two areas in the payments landscape; income and expenditure. Most fintechs have addressed the challenges of income through providing digital payment gateways but expenditure is largely unaddressed.”
“Sam is the epitome of an entrepreneur. Throughout his career, he’s spotted gaps in the market and turned them into opportunities. PopotePay is no different. He built the Popote simply by trying to solve a challenge he faced in his own business. Through the undeniable quality of the products and value proposition, PopotePay has grown to serve hundreds of businesses throughout Kenya,” says Bunmi Akinyemiju, partner at GreenHouse Capital.
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