Nigerian startup Vendly has launched a platform that allows users to send and receive money using just their social media handles.
Launched in December, Vendly aims to help social media users monetise their platforms, allowing them to send and receive money PayPal-style.
It does this by implementing “vends” – payment links that can be tied either directly to one or more specific social media handles or dynamically to a group of social media identities that fit certain criteria.
“Users on the receiving end only need prove that they own that identity by authenticating with the relevant social media platform in a safe and secure manner,” Bob Nzelu, Vendly’s co-founder and CEO, told Disrupt Africa.
“The choice of how to redeem vends lies squarely on its recipient – either directly to bank, as airtime, mobile money, donating to a charity, PayPal, or even ‘revend’ it to another social media user.”
Vendly was launched to address the lack of easy ways for social media users to monetise time spent on such platforms. “Vends” live on the timeline, and are engageable, making them more native to social media as users can share, gift and engage with vends right on social media.
Available in beta, the startup has raised US$80,000 in funding from family and friends. “Vend” authors pay a token fee for each one created, while it also plans to charge brands premium rates.
