Kenyan fintech startup Cashlet is helping millennials achieve their financial goals through a micro-saving and investments platform that allows users to start with as little as KES500 (US$5).
Founded in April 2019, Cashlet has developed an app that gives users the ability to control how much they save, and where to invest and grow their funds.
Regulated as part of the Fintech Sandbox of Kenya’s Capital Markets Authority (CMA), Cashlet’s platform offers access to investment products managed by ICEA Lion Asset Management, Old Mutual Investment Group and Genghis Capital.
“Most East Africans do not save and invest enough of their income. The saving and investment rate in East Africa lags other African countries, and is significantly behind other comparable emerging markets,” director Tom Osebe told Disrupt Africa.
There are four main issues that came up as key drivers behind the low rate of savings and investments in the region, Osebe said, especially among millennials. They are a perceived requirement for large minimum deposits in order to get started; a lack of convenience; limited financial literacy; and the low returns provided by financial institutions, especially banks.
Cashlet addresses this, allowing users to save and invest with ease via its app, and claiming to offer returns of between eight and 10 per cent. Regulated by the CMA, it offers security to users, who are already using the platform in their thousands. Cashlet is self-funded thus far, but is planning a seed round.
“The plan is to expand to three other East African markets in the near term – Uganda, Tanzania, and Rwanda,” Osebe said of the startup, which charges platform fees and is trialling commissions.
