M-Kopa
{{Short description|Private company in the UK}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2021}}
{{Infobox company
| name = M-KOPA
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| type = Private company
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| industry = Fintech
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| founded = 2011
| founders = Nick Hughes, Chad Larson, Jesse Moore
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| hq_location_city = London
| hq_location_country = United Kingdom
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| areas_served = Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa
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| products = Smartphones & Financial services
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| website = {{Official website|www.m-kopa.com}}
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M-Kopa (M for mobile, kopa is Swahili for borrow, stylized as M-KOPA)[https://www.cnbc.com/2015/02/25/pay-as-you-go-solar-power-takes-off-in-africa.html "Pay-as-you-go solar power takes off in Africa"], Anmar Frangoul, CNBC, 25 February 2015 is a UK-headquartered emerging market fintech platform that provides affordable smartphones and digital financial services.{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2015/jul/11/barack-obama-visit-kenya-jfk-ireland/|title=Barack Obama goes back to Kenya: 'It's like JFK going back to Ireland'|last=Mutiga|first=Murithi |date=11 July 2015|work=The Guardian|access-date=22 August 2017|language=en-GB|issn=0261-3077}}{{Cite web|url=http://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/faculty-research/skoll-centre-social-entrepreneurship/news/oxford-mba-graduates-secure-20m-funding-light-million-homes-kenya|title=Social enterprise MBA {{!}} M-KOPA Solar {{!}} Saïd Business School|website=www.sbs.ox.ac.uk|language=en|access-date=22 August 2017}} M-Kopa was launched commercially in 2012 and is headquartered in London. The company is currently operating in Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda and South Africa.{{Cite magazine |last=Syed |first=Armani |date=2024-05-30 |title=TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2024: M-Kopa |url=https://time.com/6980472/m-kopa-2/ |access-date=2024-06-19 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}
M-KOPA uses a financing model based on daily repayments, providing affordable smartphones integrated with financial services that fit with the cash flow of underseved individuals who earn their income on a daily basis.{{Cite web |last=Hinton |first=Lauren |date=2024-09-24 |title=Leading Fintech M-KOPA Reaches 5 Million Customers, Unlocking $1.5Bn in Credit Across 5 Markets |url=https://ffnews.com/newsarticle/fintech/leading-fintech-m-kopa-reaches-5-million-customers-unlocking-1-5bn-in-credit-across-5-markets/ |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=FF News {{!}} Fintech Finance}}{{Cite web |date=2024-09-24 |title=Leading Fintech African M-KOPA Reaches 5 Million Customers, Unlocking $1.5bn in Credit Across 5 Markets |url=https://finance.yahoo.com/news/leading-fintech-african-m-kopa-164500942.html?guccounter=1&guce_referrer=aHR0cHM6Ly93d3cuZ29vZ2xlLmNvbS8&guce_referrer_sig=AQAAADPesgaI5D6lyby_e7NwSVEkldNULlMtl_E_zXwaIHRFAZg5DSNj5jOmT4H6CwQaUbEgvP7NmIrUHyivVLtrcvSmqkinyNfh3B0vPEUHC8zp94IK3ABTJLU2F2h4fEA-mKPhi7epcFkzvw5gKjoLHGk0KRPw0KXmPfnYFFVZWlHc |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=Yahoo Finance |language=en-US}}
History
In 2010, Moore and Hughes, with banker Chad Larson founded the start-up in Nairobi that became M-Kopa the following year.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/ccfaa1ba-d0f1-11e5-831d-09f7778e7377|title=Lightbulb moment for M-Kopa|first=John|last=Aglionby|date=17 March 2016|website=Financial Times}} Hughes previously set up and ran M-Pesa at Vodafone, a mobile phone-based money transfer, financing and microfinancing service, where Moore also worked whilst completing his MBA.{{Cite news|url=http://www.corporateknights.com/channels/clean-technology/pay-go-solar-takes-off-east-africa-14340024/|title=Pay-as-you go solar takes off in East Africa {{!}} Corporate Knights|date=11 June 2015|work=Corporate Knights|access-date=22 August 2017|language=en-US}} Larson and Moore were fellow MBA students at Oxford University.
In 2011, M-Kopa raised money with incubation by Signal Point Partners.[https://ssir.org/articles/entry/banking_on_the_poor "Banking on the Poor"], Stanford Social Innovation Review, Dennis Price, 2016 Backing investors have included Richard Branson, Generation Investment Management, Blue Haven Initiative and LGT Venture Philanthropy, an investment vehicle of the Princely Family of Liechtenstein. M-Kopa was launched commercially in late 2012.
By 2015, it said it had powered 150,000 households in Kenya, Uganda, and Tanzania, with around 10,000 mobile payments made by users on its cloud platform, M-Kopanet, made on a daily basis. It had over $40 million of revenue by 2015.{{Cite news|url=http://www.akilah.net/people-to-know/m-kopas-founder-on-bringing-hundreds-of-solar-jobs-to-east-africa/|title=M-KOPA's Founder on Bringing Hundreds of Solar Jobs to East Africa and What He Looks for in New Hires|date=13 November 2015|work=MindSky|access-date=22 August 2017|language=en}}{{dead link|date=March 2025|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}{{Cite news|url=http://allafrica.com/stories/201511131483.html|title=East Africa: M-Kopa's Founder On Bringing Hundreds of Solar Jobs to East Africa and What He Looks for in New Hires|last=Odengo|first=Rose|date=13 November 2015|work=Akilah Net (Kigali)|access-date=22 August 2017}} In 2015, M-Kopa estimated that 80 percent of its customers lived on less than $2 a day.{{Cite news |title=M-Kopa Expanding financial access |url=https://time.com/6980472/m-kopa-2/ |access-date=30 May 2024 |work=Time}}
In February 2015, M-Kopa announced a plan to blacklist defaulters on its loans with credit bureaus.{{Cite news|url=http://www.businessdailyafrica.com/Corporate-News/M-Pesa-solar-dealer-to-blacklist-defaulters-with-credit-bureaus/539550-2628252-p0gnpfz/index.html|title=M-Pesa solar dealer M-Kopa to blacklist defaulters|work=Business Daily|access-date=22 August 2017|language=en-UK}}
It had connected over 300,000 homes in East Africa to Solar power, as of early January 2016{{Cite news|url=http://www.triplepundit.com/2016/01/m-kopa-pay-as-you-go-solar-africa/|title=How This Solar Startup Became a Multinational Social Enterprise|date=22 January 2016|work=Triple Pundit: People, Planet, Profit|access-date=22 August 2017|language=en-US}} In 2016, M-Kopa sold 30,000 solar TVs in Kenya, looking to add internet access.[http://allafrica.com/stories/201612050965.html "Kenya: M-Kopa Sells 30,000 Solar TVs in Kenya and Looks to Add Internet Access – Expanding to Uganda and Tanzania"], AllAfrica, 2 December 2016 By December 2016, the company had sold around 400,000 systems in Kenya, Tanzania, and Uganda since its launch in 2011, under CEO Jesse Moore.[https://www.technologyreview.com/s/603009/africa-finds-power-off-the-grid/ "Africa Finds Power Off the Grid"], MIT Technology Review, Jonathan W. Rosen, 2 December 2016 As of 2016, there were plans to begin manufacturing all the products in Kenya.[http://news.trust.org/item/20160801101608-ao2bw/ "Solar-powered televisions brighten homes in rural Kenya"], 1 August 2016, Reuters
By January 2018, the company had wired at least 500,000 homes, and sold about 90,000 solar rechargeable televisions.[https://www.the-star.co.ke/news/2018/01/17/outdated-policies-high-taxes-discourage-uptake-of-solar_c1699093 "Outdated policies, high taxes discourage uptake of solar"], Abel Muhatia, 17 January, 20178, The Star In 2018, it was reported that M-Kopa was going to acquire an additional 500,000 photovoltaic solar panels, under chairman Mugo Kibati, in an agreement with Solinc East Africa.[https://www.standardmedia.co.ke/business/article/2001266170/m-kopa-to-source-new-0-5-million-solar-panels-on-increased-uptake "M-kopa strikes deal for 500,000 photovoltaic solar panels"], Patrick Alushula, 16 January 2018 In February 2018, M-Kopa received $10 million in funding from FinDev Canada in a new funding round led by CDC, and including existing shareholders LGT Venture Philanthropy and Generation Investment Management.
In July 2021, M-Kopa announced its expansion to Nigeria.[https://www.sautitech.com/startups/m-kopa-expands-to-nigeria/ "M-KOPA expands to Nigeria"], 12 July 2021, SautiTech In 2024, the company had extended over $1.5 billion in credit to more than 5 million customers and stated that it employs over 3,000 staff members and 30,000 sales agents across its African markets.
Business model and products
M-KOPA utilises payments data and propreitary AI-driven analytics to create a credit record for each customer to form long-term financial relationships that include digital loans, affordable digital subscriptions and insurance.{{Cite web |last=PYMNTS |date=2023-05-15 |title=M-KOPA Raises $250 Million to Improve Financial Inclusion in Africa |url=https://www.pymnts.com/news/investment-tracker/2023/m-kopa-raises-250-million-dollars-improve-financial-inclusion-africa/ |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=PYMNTS.com |language=en-US}}{{Cite web |last=PURITY |first=WANGECHI |date=2024-09-25 |title=Fintech Giant Mkopa reaches 5mn customers in Africa including Kenya |url=https://www.capitalfm.co.ke/business/2024/09/fintech-giant-mkopa-reaches-5mn-customers-in-africa-including-kenya/ |access-date=2024-10-07 |website=Capital Business |language=en-US}} Customers pay a deposit of KSh. {{shilingi|3,500}} (approx US$35), and then pay {{shilingi|50}} (approx US$0.50) a day for a period of one year,{{Cite web|url=https://www.ft.com/content/ccfaa1ba-d0f1-11e5-831d-09f7778e7377|title=Lightbulb moment for M-Kopa|last=Aglionby|first=John|date=17 March 2016|website=Financial Times|access-date=22 August 2017}} to own the smartphone device. Daily payments are made through M-Pesa, a mobile phone based money system,{{Cite news|url=https://www.economist.com/news/middle-east-and-africa/21685504-electrification-plans-are-stalling-because-distributors-wont-pay-power-hungry|title=Power hungry|newspaper=The Economist|access-date=22 August 2017}} at about 45 cents a day. This way, in addition to getting their device, customers also slowly off-set the cost of the device.
The company also provides an upgrade products and services that include; smartphones and digital financial services. The company also has a dedicated and ring-fenced R&D unit, M-Kopa Labs, which deploys research grants to test new technology and extensions to the M-Kopa platform{{Cite web|url=http://solar.m-kopa.com/about/m-kopa-labs/|title=M-KOPA Labs {{!}} M-KOPA Corporate|website=solar.m-kopa.com|access-date=2 April 2019}}
M-Kopa is supported by a number of partners. Mobile network operators—like Safaricom—are partnering with M-Kopa to support mobile money and value-added services. Manufacturers and brands are partnering to provide a platform for market entry, finance and last mile access. Payments companies like Mastercard and challenger banks see the disruptive power of the platform on traditional clicks and mortar banking.{{Cite web|url=https://www.africa.com/mastercard-centenary-bank-and-m-kopa-solar-roll-out-first-of-its-kind-energy-solution-in-uganda/|title=Mastercard, Centenary Bank And M-kopa Solar Roll-out First Of Its Kind Energy Solution In Uganda|last=Editor|first=A. D. C.|date=26 October 2018|website=Africa.com|language=en-US|access-date=2 April 2019}}
Awards
M-Kopa has received recognition from various institutions. It won the Bloomberg New Energy Finance Award 2014 as well as two awards from the Financial Times for Technology in Sustainable Finance and Excellence in sustainable finance, both in 2013. In 2015, M-Kopa was recognized by Fortune Magazine as one of the Top 50 Companies Changing the World and won the Zayed Future Energy Award 2015,{{Cite web|url=http://www.zayedfutureenergyprize.com/en/media-centre/press-releases/details/?id=1751/|title=Press release details –Zayed Future Energy Prize|website=www.zayedfutureenergyprize.com|access-date=22 August 2017}} In February 2016, it was recognised as the Best Mobile Innovation for Emerging Markets at the Global Mobile Awards. M-Kopa was named on MIT Technology Review's 2017 list of 50 Smartest Companies in June 2017.{{Cite web|title=M-Kopa, Jumia Among MIT 50 Smartest Companies of 2017|url=https://digestafrica.com/jumia-smartest-companies-2017|access-date=2021-09-29|website=Digest Africa|language=en}} In March 2016, it emerged boldest at the Financial Times Arcelor Mittal – Boldness in Business Awards in the developing markets category.{{Cite news|date=2018-03-15|title=The Boldness in Business awards: a look back at previous stories of success|work=Financial Times|url=https://www.ft.com/content/69a37f26-1c42-11e8-aaca-4574d7dabfb6|access-date=2021-09-29}} Fast Company listed M-Kopa in the 2018 Edition of the World's Most Innovative Companies and number four out of 10 in Africa.{{Cite web|title=M-Kopa Solar: Most Innovative Company|url=https://www.fastcompany.com/company/m-kopa|access-date=2021-09-29|website=Fast Company|language=en-US}} The company was also named among the global Cleantech 100 companies in 2019.{{Cite web|title=M-KOPA named in the 2019 Cleantech 100 – TechMoran|url=https://techmoran.com/2019/01/31/m-kopa-named-in-the-2019-cleantech-100%EF%BB%BF/|access-date=2021-09-29|language=en-US}}
In addition, M-Kopa was listed in the Financial Times “Africa’s Fastest Growing Companies” rankings three years in a row in 2022,{{Cite news |date=2022-05-03 |title=FT ranking: Africa's Fastest Growing Companies 2022 |url=https://www.ft.com/africas-fastest-growing-companies |access-date=2024-06-19 |language=en-GB}} 2023,{{Cite web |last=Pilling |first=David |date=2023-05-02 |title=FT ranking: Africa's Fastest Growing Companies 2023 |url=https://www.ft.com/content/2e45727c-0c2a-4636-95d0-4889969cfca8 |access-date=2024-06-19 |website=www.ft.com |language=en-GB}} and 2024.{{Cite news |last=Pilling |first=David |date=2024-05-14 |title=The ranking: Africa's Fastest Growing Companies 2024 |url=https://www.ft.com/content/a1bc5d2e-046e-499b-b27e-4d057f9d8477 |access-date=2024-06-19 |work=Financial Times}} The company was also included in the TIME100 Most Influential Companies list in 2023 and 2024.{{Cite magazine |last=Syed |first=Armani |date=2024-05-30 |title=TIME100 Most Influential Companies 2024: M-Kopa |url=https://time.com/6980472/m-kopa-2/ |access-date=2024-06-19 |magazine=TIME |language=en}}
References
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