Kenyan save-to-buy platform Mosmos is allowing customers to pay for high value products and services in convenient and flexible installments, as they earn rewards and unlock discounts.
Formed to bridge the affordability gap for high value products and services, and make savings targeted and achievable, Mosmos enables customers to save for items they want to purchase, interest-free.
“Over 75 per cent of the working population across Africa is informal. This is more often than not characterised by limited and inconsistent income and limited access to responsible financial products and solutions. When you have very little disposable income, it becomes challenging to upgrade your life comfortably,” Mosmos CEO Chengo Masha told Disrupt Africa.
“Similarly, in a market where loan apps and other credit options have doomed customers into a debt trap, financially responsible products like Mosmos are a breath of fresh air.”
Users certainly seem to think so, with Masha saying uptake has been “great”, while Mosmos is also proving popular with investors. The startup closed a pre-seed round earlier this year, from investors such as Antler East Africa, Sovereign Capital, StartUp Istanbul and the Nairobi Business Angel Network (NaiBAN). The latter unlocked a 3X matching investment of EUR60,000 (US$66,000) from Catalytic Africa, the co-investment fund established in 2019 by the African Business Angels Network (ABAN) and AfriLabs.
“The potential for save-to-buy is not only massive in Kenya, but the rest of the other emerging markets. Over the last few months we’ve seen different startups coming up across the world, and the conversation is slowly changing from “buy now pay later” to “save now buy later”,” said Masha.
“As we continue to grow, we continue to listen to our customers more, iterate on the product, strengthen our value proposition and create win-win partnerships that will drive Mosmos to product-market fit.”
The startup has a customer footprint across all 47 Kenyan counties.
“This just goes to show the massive scale that we are working so hard to unlock in the next few months. So, we are ruthless about winning in Kenya and making the Mosmos brand synonymous with SNBL and being the perfect and preferred solution for Kenyans,” Masha said.
Mosmos is looking at other potential markets, but is realistic about the cuttent climate.
“We are cognisant of the current challenges affecting the startup ecosystem and we are being careful enough not to bite more than we can chew,” Masha said. “Over the last few months we’ve seen startups scale down or shut down operations in other countries, so we are studying that very carefully.”
Mosmos generates revenues from suppliers and partners, and does not charge customers any extra fees. Masha said GMV and revenue growth so far had been “great”.
“We are always optimising towards profitability, so that is always at the back of our minds for every decision we make, every product line we explore, and we also maintain a lean but efficient team,” he said.
