SXSW Startups: Pawame Powers Africa
The Forrest Four-Cast: February 5, 2018
SXSW has announced 50 finalists for the SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event. Half of these startups will demo their talents on Saturday, March 10, and the remaining 25 on Sunday, March 11. Winners in 10 categories will be honored at the Accelerator Award Ceremony (7 pm Sunday, March 11), at the Hilton Austin. The SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event takes place within the Startup & Tech Sectors track of programming.
A finalist in Payment and FinTech Technology category, Pawame is lighting up rural communities in Africa with clean, affordable and reliable solar home systems. Based in Nairobi, Kenya, Pawame uses tech-enabled loan management and mobile money payment platforms to offer its customers a means of finance that is not limited by distance or lack of Internet access or a bank account. With data collected from digital payments, Pawame is creating credit profiles on its customers, enabling the company to offer other life-changing products, from TVs and refrigerators to solar water pumps and school loans.
CEO Maurice Parets answered these questions about Pawame’s ambitious plans. Learn more at this startup’s pitch session at 11 am on Sunday, March 11, in the Hilton Austin, Salon AB. You can also connect with them at the SXSW Accelerator Demo Day on Monday, March 12.
What does Pawame hope to accomplish in 2018?
Three big things. One is to close a successful A-round led by investors who share our vision and bring not just money but wisdom, experience and a desire to share these with our team. Two is to reach up to 20,000 new households, including expanding into one, maybe two new markets outside Kenya. Finally, just to keep getting better and better at executing on our objective of delighting our customers at every touchpoint and continually deepen our relationship with them. It may sound cliché, but we are earnestly committed to building customer-centricity into everything that we do.
What can you tell us about your current users?
We currently have almost 4,000 active customers, most of whom are concentrated in a wide band running up the west side of the country, from Narok county in the southwest to Turkana in the northwest. Turkana is home to Kakuma refugee camp, one of the largest refugee camps in the world, with over 200,000 residents and where we have been operating since October.
You are based in Nairobi, Kenya. Tell us more about the tech/startup ecosystem there.
Nairobi is the undisputed startup hub of East Africa, and perhaps all of Africa. It is cosmopolitan and packed with startups, accelerators and financiers, from tiny VCs to big development finance institutions. What makes it different from other startup hubs is just how much of the scene revolves around ventures like our own that are mission-oriented and/or tackling Africa-specific problems.
What inspired your team to apply for SXSW Accelerator?
We’re a small startup in Kenya tackling one of the world’s most staggeringly huge challenges — electrifying and financially empowering the 650 million people in Sub-Saharan Africa who don’t have access to a grid connection — and we can’t do it by ourselves. There are few bigger stages than SXSW to reach the financiers, partners and other supporters that we will need to be successful, and few with an audience as likely to be sensitized to the importance of what we are trying to achieve.
What kinds of people is your team looking to meet at SXSW 2018?
Potential financial backers, naturally, but given that it is SXSW, media industry folks and personalities that would like to help us spread our story.
What other goals does Pawame have for the event?
Win the competition, get inspired, and have fun!
Has Pawame been involved with other pitch events?
Our Chairman and co-founder Alex Allegue pitched Pawame in the global finals of last year’s Harvard Business School New Venture Competition, Pawame having already won the Africa category. In December, he and I successfully participated in a pitch night for Dubai Angel Investors, netting a $75,000 commitment. And we’ve been selected to pitch for the MIT Enterprise Forum Pan-Arab Region’s Innovate for Refugees award in Amman, Jordan, based on our work in Kakuma refugee camp in northwestern Kenya. Our CTO and Co-founder Majd Chaaya and colleague Hella Bennani are representing us there at the end of January. Every event allows us to reach new people, expand our network and hone our message further.
How long has the Pawame team been together?
The founders — Alex Allegue, Majd Chaaya, and COO Nick Sparks — came together in Kenya around March 2016, hired the first Pawame employees shortly thereafter, and we sold our first solar home system, to the mother of one of our early employees, in July 2016. I joined in March 2017.
Looking at the entire tech industry, what technology does your team think is most overrated at present?
With emphasis on “at present,” probably Blockchain. It will eventually create a profound impact on society but many of its current applications seem gimmicky. That said, we are interested in looking at ways we might be able to leverage cryptocurrency to reach customers where mobile money is not available.
How about underrated?
As much attention as it gets, I don’t think we have really grasped the full ramifications of distributed solar energy generation. In the U.S., some people are already cutting the cord not only with their phone and cable providers but with their electrical utilities. In vast swathes of Africa, people will never know anything different: as technology prices drop and African economies develop, larger solar home systems that provide grid-style capacity will become affordable even to rural Africans. Most centralized energy generation (especially fossil fuel-based ones) could eventually become obsolete, leaving trillions in stranded assets.
What are some favorite podcasts?
I’m a big fan of Tim Ferriss and the people he interviews. His show has made me reflect on my life and challenged me to live it better. I also love Mike Duncan’s history podcasts, “History of Rome” and “Revolutions,” when I’m in the mood for something different.
What do you like best about the startup experience?
The mission, the camaraderie and crisp Nairobi mornings.
What about least?
The financial pressure. And the haters.
What has the startup experience taught you about life?
Nothing enriches life like a worthy challenge. I already knew this, in a way, but nothing has embedded it in my psyche the way the Pawame experience has. Except maybe having kids!
Look for interviews with other SXSW Accelerator finalists in this space between now and March. Startups already profiled as part of this series include 70MillionJobs, Bluefield, Cambridge Cancer Genomics, CieAR, DashTag, HealthTensor, Instreamatic, PolyPort, Sceenic, and UPGRADED.
Or, click here to browse the full lineup of startups for SXSW Accelerator 2018.
Hugh Forrest serves as Chief Programming Officer at SXSW, the world’s most unique gathering of creative professionals. He also tries to write at least four paragraphs per day on Medium. These posts often cover tech-related trends; other times they focus on books, pop culture, sports and other current events.
