Pay4Me Joins the 2022 Inaugural Class of Techstars Chicago Powered By J.P. Morgan
The African tech ecosystem has witnessed massive funding from investors, especially for fintech startup companies. In 2022, Flutterwave from Nigeria and Wasoko, Kenya, gave hundreds of startups a reason to work harder for funding from investors. While some stakeholders speculate about a possible funding crunch for African startups in the nearest future, Pay4Me App has given Africans another reason to praise visionary founders like Sunday Paul Adah, who has put the brand on global recognition.
In Q1 2022, African startup funding grew by 150%, outperforming other regions of the world. For instance, Pay4Me App competed against hundreds of brands to clinch a spot at the highly coveted founders’ class with Techstars Chicago powered by J.P Morgan.
According to Neal Sáles-Griffin, Managing Director of Techstars Chicago, each company selected went through a rigorous journey to come out successfully. Pay4Me and eleven other startups proved that:
1. They understand customers' needs better than the competition.
2. They are data-driven and can control their levers for growth.
3. They have personal mastery and a keen understanding of their team's strengths and weaknesses to build a successful and scalable technology company.
Who is Techstars?
Founded in 2006, Techstars wants every entrepreneur to succeed with its unique solutions. The company is on a mission to connect startups, investors, corporations, and cities and support thriving startup communities worldwide. Techstars has invested in more than 2,800 companies with a combined market cap of approximately $159 billion.
The Chicago-based company front-loads intensive training on the following:
· Customer discovery
· Financial modeling
· Data-driven sales
As a result, its selection process included intensive scrutiny of brands with the potential to take full advantage of the three mentioned areas. Techstars understands the importance of having a class of founders to reflect the diversity of her community in Chicago. Furthermore, the company picks founders of all backgrounds, “with a focus on diverse entrepreneurs traditionally undervalued and overlooked by other venture capital sources.”
Here is a list of the companies that make up the 2022 class:
1. Activated Scale: Marketplace connecting startups with flexible sales talent
2. Clickvoyant: AI that turns raw marketing data into insight presentations in minutes
3. dev-docs: Making developer documentation painless
4. Daedalus: No code platform for algorithmic trading
5. Global: Internationally-inspired baby food for future foodies
6. Leagueswype: Digital wallet for legalized sports bettors
7. Parkster.ai: Displaying locations of available parking spaces in real-time to drivers
8. Pay4Me App: Seamless cross-border payments for international students and migrants
9. SMARTCharts: A platform for rehabilitation patients and care teams to see and celebrate progress
10. STIGMA: Creating safe spaces to practice talking about mental health
11. Taste: Making Social Fun
12. XpressRun: One API to enable DTC brands to deliver smarter & faster than prime
Who is J.P Morgan Chase?
JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) is a leading global financial services firm with assets of $3.2 trillion and operations worldwide. The Firm is a leader in investment banking, financial services for consumers and small businesses, commercial banking, financial transaction processing, and asset management.
Over the past months, Pay4Me App has partnered with brands like MPower Financing to support African students with their study abroad loans. Though Pay4Me is relatively new in the financial sector, it has helped thousands of students, including businesses, make seamless international transactions.