Kenyan startup tappi, which helps SMEs build their online identity through a chat tool that automatically creates a webpage, has expanded into Ivory Coast in an extension to its existing partnership with telecoms firm MTN.
Founded by Kenfield Griffith and Louis Majanja, tappi allows SME owners to download its app, add their “look and feel”, and promote their business through a three-step process that goes to Google Ads, Facebook Ads, and Instagram Ads using airtime credit or mobile money.
Since its inception in 2022, tappi has been on a rapid growth journey capturing verified reviews on over US$3 million consumer transactions and engaging with over 150,000 consumers. Disrupt Africa reported in December the startup had raised US$1.5 million through an oversubscribed pre-seed round of funding, and it has now made Ivory Coast its third market, having already moved into Nigeria.
For as low as US$8 per month, Ivorian MSMEs can now receive access to tappi’s SaaS and enterprise-grade tools, empowering them to generate SEO-optimised websites in less than two minutes, distribute online ads and secure access to a host of additional digital services. Through tappi’s partnership with MTN Ivory Coast, the telecom’s 17 million customers in the country will also be able to access these services via integrated data bundles.
“With a strong GDP growth rate of 6.9 per cent, Ivory Coast not only represents the ideal market to empower MSMEs primed to digitise and significantly expand their customer base, but will act as a critical gateway to access Francophone Africa’s 150 million consumers as we identify future growth opportunities across the region,” Griffith said.
“Alongside MTN, we are proud to kickstart this mission with one of our top partners, who has been integral to tappi since day one and is equally committed to the goal of digitising MSMEs across Africa. With over 17 million customers in Ivory Coast alone, and a robust mobile money network, we firmly believe MTN holds the perfect reach, scale and infrastructure to seamlessly get technology into the hands of MSMEs ready to grow their businesses, and we look forward to driving ahead with the next phase of our partnership.”
