Key Takeaways
- • Kotani Pay, a Kenya-based blockchain payments company, began in 2018 as a team of educators teaching Nairobi residents about blockchain and evolved into a business serving multiple markets, according to co-founder Samuel Kariuki.
- • The company's first product, an SMS wallet usable on feature phones, let recipients dial a code to view received funds and convert them to local currency through mobile money.
- • Early projects with UNICEF's Office of Innovation in Ghana and Kenya, largely with refugee camp populations, provided funding, technical assistance and validation that helped Kotani Pay raise investor capital.
- • Kotani Pay now sells API-based payment infrastructure to businesses, using a 'stablecoin sandwich' model: fiat to stablecoin to fiat, connecting local banking and mobile money rails to blockchain protocols.
- • UNICEF's Blockchain Ventures programme, supported by the Ethereum Foundation and GSR Foundation, funds emerging-market startups building blockchain solutions.
Summary
African blockchain startups are building payment infrastructure that does not depend on traditional bank accounts, with the humanitarian sector among the beneficiaries. Disrupt Africa profiles Kotani Pay, a Kenya-based company supported by UNICEF's Office of Innovation through its Blockchain Ventures investment programme, which is backed by the Ethereum Foundation and GSR Foundation.
According to co-founder Samuel Kariuki, Kotani Pay began around 2018 as a group of educators teaching Nairobi residents about blockchain. The team identified a gap: mobile money, the dominant payment channel in Africa, could not connect to blockchain networks. In a basic-income pilot in Nairobi's informal settlements, recipients received digital money they could not spend, and a local agent who converted it to cash became a target. This led the company to build a path between blockchain and Kenya shillings using mobile money.
The first product was an SMS wallet designed for feature phones. Through projects with UNICEF in Ghana and Kenya, mainly involving refugee camp residents, users could dial a code to see their funds and convert them into local currency via mobile money. Kariuki said the early work validated the model for replication at scale and gave the company a track record to present to investors. He also credited UNICEF with product design, market penetration and business fundamentals support provided at no cost.
Kotani Pay has since shifted its focus to businesses, offering API-based multi-chain infrastructure. Its 'stablecoin sandwich' model moves funds from fiat to stablecoin and back to fiat, linking local banking or mobile money channels to blockchain protocols. Kariuki argued that cross-border settlement frictions in emerging markets, including slow bank settlement and the need to route trades through the dollar, are driving demand for stablecoin-based alternatives. Kariuki said the company remains committed to social purpose, having open-sourced its solution.
According to co-founder Samuel Kariuki, Kotani Pay began around 2018 as a group of educators teaching Nairobi residents about blockchain. The team identified a gap: mobile money, the dominant payment channel in Africa, could not connect to blockchain networks. In a basic-income pilot in Nairobi's informal settlements, recipients received digital money they could not spend, and a local agent who converted it to cash became a target. This led the company to build a path between blockchain and Kenya shillings using mobile money.
The first product was an SMS wallet designed for feature phones. Through projects with UNICEF in Ghana and Kenya, mainly involving refugee camp residents, users could dial a code to see their funds and convert them into local currency via mobile money. Kariuki said the early work validated the model for replication at scale and gave the company a track record to present to investors. He also credited UNICEF with product design, market penetration and business fundamentals support provided at no cost.
Kotani Pay has since shifted its focus to businesses, offering API-based multi-chain infrastructure. Its 'stablecoin sandwich' model moves funds from fiat to stablecoin and back to fiat, linking local banking or mobile money channels to blockchain protocols. Kariuki argued that cross-border settlement frictions in emerging markets, including slow bank settlement and the need to route trades through the dollar, are driving demand for stablecoin-based alternatives. Kariuki said the company remains committed to social purpose, having open-sourced its solution.
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