Finance:Rwazi

From HandWiki

Rwazi, Inc. is a software company based in Los Angeles , California, that focuses on  market intelligence and consumer insights. The company helps multinational companies in understanding the global consumer market, especially, African, South Asian and Latin American consumer market.[1]

About

The company was founded in 2018 by Joseph Rutakangwa, and Eric Sewankambo.[2][3] Their vision was to offer organizations access to consumer insights from global markets, especially in emerging regions of African market, that is cash-based due to mistrust on the banking sector. Around 90% of the African market's retails sector is cash-based, Rwazi wanted to present around a billion consumers of the Africa into a database for understanding the market trends.[1][4][5]

How it works

The data on the Rwazi is gathered by the residents, retaliers and consumers, of the locality, called mappers. Mappers gather data from the traditional retailers, the mappers turn even the offline business activities into online data on the Rwazi app for which they are paid. Rwazi currently have around 50,000 mappers across Africa, South Asia and Latin America.[6][7] and plans to expend to 100,000 in next five years.[citation needed] Companies subscribe to the Rwazi for getting the real time data regarding the business transaction.[8][9]

Funding

The company has recently raised $4 million led by Bonfire Ventures and backed by Newfund, Alumni Ventures and Techstars. [10][11]

Awards

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Brock, James (2023-04-03). "Company Takes Pulse of Sub-Saharan Africa's Consumers" (in en-US). https://labusinessjournal.com/technology/company-takes-pulse-of-sub-saharan-africas-consumers/. 
  2. "Rwazi is revolutionising data collection with their on-ground network of mappers" (in en). https://www.bizcommunity.com/Article/196/662/227568.html. 
  3. "À Maurice, Rwazi utilise le big data pour révolutionner le marketing des petites et moyennes entreprises". https://www.wearetech.africa/fr/fils/solutions/a-maurice-rwazi-utilise-le-big-data-pour-revolutionner-le-marketing-des-petites-et-moyennes-entreprises. 
  4. Africa, B. I. (2022-03-18). "Rwazi is creating opportunity for African youths through big data" (in en). https://africa.businessinsider.com/local/careers/rwazi-is-creating-opportunity-for-african-youths-through-big-data/y94xg6w. 
  5. AITN (2023-03-24). "Rwazi lève 4 millions de dollars pour soutenir son expansion en Afrique" (in fr-FR). https://afriqueitnews.com/startups/rwazi-leve-4-millions-dollars-soutenir-expansion-afrique/. 
  6. Nwanji, Ngozi (2023-04-10). "5 African Startups That Are Trailblazing In The Continent's Growing Tech Ecosystem" (in en). https://afrotech.com/5-african-startups-that-are-trailblazing-in-the-continents-growing-tech-ecosystem. 
  7. Nanalyze (2023-02-16). "Rwazi Brings Big Data to Sub-Saharan Africa - Nanalyze" (in en-US). https://www.nanalyze.com/2023/02/rwazi-big-data-africa/,%20https://www.nanalyze.com/2023/02/rwazi-big-data-africa/. 
  8. Jackson, Tom (2019-08-14). "How Mauritius-based startup Rwazi promotes competition in the retail space" (in en-GB). https://disrupt-africa.com/2019/08/14/how-mauritius-based-startup-rwazi-promotes-competition-in-the-retail-space/. 
  9. correspondants, Les (2019-09-12). "[Made in Océan Indien Rwazi: la start-up s'implante avec succès à l'île Maurice"] (in fr-FR). https://www.frenchweb.fr/made-in-ocean-indien-rwazi-la-start-up-simplante-avec-succes-a-lile-maurice/374344. 
  10. Nnamani, Caleb (2023-03-24). "Rwazi raises $4m to penetrate emerging markets and offer insights" (in en-US). https://techcabal.com/2023/03/24/rwazi-raises-4million-to-penetrate-emerging-markets/. 
  11. Nwanji, Ngozi (2023-03-23). "Market Intelligence Startup Rwazi Raises $4M In Seed Funding Round" (in en). https://afrotech.com/rwazi-market-intelligence-startup-seed-funding. 
  12. "SA wins over half of the prize categories at Southern Africa Startup Awards finals" (in en-ZA). 2019-12-02. https://ventureburn.com/2019/12/southern-africa-startup-awards-finals/. 
  13. "South African startups snag 8 awards at the GSA Africa regional finale" (in en-ZA). 2021-12-18. https://ventureburn.com/2021/12/south-african-startups-snag-8-awards-at-the-gsa-africa-regional-finale/. 
  14. "Rwazi Awarded 2023 Innovator in Trade by L.A. Area Chamber and World Trade Week Southern California Committee - ALX" (in en-AU). 2023-05-15. https://www.alxafrica.com/blog/rwazi-receives-2023-innovator-in-trade-award/.