Seamfix, a company that helps organisations and governments in Africa with digital identities and verification, just got a big boost. They received $4.5 million from Alitheia IDF, their first big investor. This money will help them grow beyond Nigeria, where they’ve been for 17 years.
Chimezie Emewulu, the CEO, explained that because Nigeria’s currency, the naira, keeps losing value compared to the dollar, they need to expand to more stable African countries. So, they’re heading to Ghana, Kenya, and South Africa.
Their goal is to solve the identity problem in Africa. Right now, over 500 million people in Africa don’t have IDs. Fixing this could increase GDP by 7%, but it’ll cost around $6 billion.
Seamfix already works in Uganda, Cote d’Ivoire, and Ethiopia. Plus, they team up with MTN to provide identity solutions in countries where MTN operates.
To make things easier, they’re building a Pan-African identity switch. This will help verify identities across borders in Africa.
Seamfix makes money by selling their identity solutions to organisations and charging for verification services. They’ve processed over 500 million identities so far.
Started by classmates who wanted to fix tech problems, Seamfix began by making custom digital solutions for organisations. But in 2015, they shifted to focusing on identity management.
Their big breakthrough came when they helped MTN Nigeria meet regulatory standards, reducing a huge fine from $5.2 billion to $1.7 billion.
Now, with the funding and support from Alitheia IDF, Seamfix is poised to make an even bigger impact in Africa.