Data is the key to success and one startup has figured out how to assist brands with sourcing data that’s important to their growth.
TechCrunch reports Rwazi, an African market intelligence startup, has racked up $4 million in a seed funding round. Supported by Bonfire Ventures, the round also received investments from Newfund Capital and Alumni Ventures. The money will assist the startup, founded by Eric Sewankambo and Joseph Rutakangwa, with expansion and planned product launches.
So what does Rwazi do? Using an app, the startup
collects data directly from users by logging all of their purchases. After a verification process, the users are then paid. The data is based on the customers’ needs, ranging from product usage to household budgets and income. The two founders started the business after trying to grab timely market insights in their previous jobs. It helped them understand how frustrating the process could get and, more importantly, how valuable that information could be.To date, the app is available in 40 African countries, as well as South Asia and Latin America. With the new funding, Rutakangwa said they can address language barriers. “We are rolling out new products this year that support different languages because this has been a barrier to our growth in these regions,” the founder said.
Currently, Rwazi has 50,000 consumers, including more than 15 multinational corporations in numerous industries. While that may look impressive, Rutakangwa said there is more work to be done.
“Looking back at 2022, it was indeed a difficult year for investing in emerging markets, with widespread inflation and supply chain disruptions affecting many of these markets,” the CEO told
Grit Daily.“However, many analysts are optimistic that 2023 will be a better year for investing in emerging markets,” he added. “This is due to several factors, including the expectation that central banks in developed markets will relax their monetary policies, which could ease some of the tensions experienced by emerging market currencies.”