Ugandan fintech Bureau Vente (U) limited, or BVL, will on November be in Singapore to pitch at the Demo Day of the Singapore Fintech Festival.
The event will run from Nov. 11-15.
To reach this far, Bureau Vente competed at the regional level in Kenya, where alongside Nairobi-based Kwara, they beat other fintechs to win the Global Fintech Hackcelerator @ Kenya.
The competition was organized by the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) and the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS).
Congratulations to Kwara of Kenya and Bureau Vente of Uganda, and all the other great participants who took part in the 2019 Global Fintech Hackcelerator @ Kenya. #AfroAsiaFintechFest pic.twitter.com/GFXQJV20aN
— Central Bank of Kenya (@CBKKenya) August 9, 2019
It was conceived during the inaugural Afro-Asia Fintech Festival which was held from July 15-16 in Nairobi, Kenya.
The Hackcelerator was looking for a company with a “game-changing sustainable solution that explores the complex financial challenges in the Afro-Asian market today”.
During the competition, the startups received first-hand feedback from UN Task Force members, CBK and other industry leaders.
Bureau Vente will now participate in the Demo Day at the Singapore Fintech Festival.
Organizers of the Global Fintech Hackcelerator @Kenya say Bureau Vente now qualifies for “funding of up to S$200,000 (about Shs533 million) to develop a contextualized proof of concept”.
The top 3 winners at the Singapore Fintech Festival Demo Day will receive S$50,000 (Shs133m) each. This brings the total to 250,000 Singapore dollars (about Shs666 million).
Other opportunities include expanding its business into Singapore and an “opportunity to work with high-value corporates, engage with industry experts and leverage on their expertise.”
Bureau Vente has built a digital traceability and sustainability platform (Mobile and Dashboard app) that tracks coffee from the farm gate till the point of export.
It is a brainchild of Bienfait Bitenyo, a Rwandan national living in Uganda.
In an interview with SautiTech, Bitenyo said that they are already in three countries: Uganda, the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Rwanda.
On average, they aggregate “13 metric tons of coffee every year through the 3 countries and my platform hosts data for 100k farmers plus and growing,” he said.
The companies that use the system Great Lakes Coffee Uganda, Rwanda Trading Company and Coffeelac in DRC.
They earn revenue through commissions.
Bitenyo works alongside Ibrahim Kezaala, who is a lead developer; Fred Bitenyo, the CTO; Marion Kamahoro, who handles systems security; and Arnold Magera, a data specialist.
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