Kenyan startup Fundis is connecting users with informal technicians and craftsmen, addressing a fragmented industry by offering access to competent, vetted and reliable specialists.
Founded in May 2019 with backing from local VC firm Kuria Capital, Fundis is a P2P platform that connects users with vetted craftsmen.
“Africa’s informal workforce is highly fragmented, characterised by low unpredictable earnings, poor working conditions, and low productivity,” co-founder Alex Ndegwa told Disrupt Africa.
The opportunity for a business like Fundis was discovered after the founders’ brick and mortar construction sub-contracting business failed, and they realised that matching could have been done better and faster digitally.
“Beyond the fragmentation, many artisanal skills, knowledge, and competencies in use in Africa’s informal labour market have not been assessed, recognised, or certified, yet recruitment requires certification that the informal or non-formal market does not provide,” said Ndegwa.
Fundis takes on responsibility for this, providing a vocational talent platform that assesses, upskills, and certifies artisans for global job matching and job improvement. It has been quietly growing, and is now active in four Kenyan cities. It has so far reached over 10,000 artisans, and has scaled into the B2B space.
Having banked further funding from Kuria Capital, as well as additional funding from Kaleo Ventures and CFYE, the startup is now looking further afield.
“We are piloting in Tanzania where we want to grow to next, by the end of 2024,” said Ndegwa.
The startup monetises via commissions and transaction fees, and is now also moving into multi-side subscriptions.
“We also have additional revenue streams from launch of two new products for artisans and builders – the FundiBora Micro-insurance Product co-created with Maishapoa, and the FundiBora Loan Product, co-created with Fortune Credit,” Ndegwa said.
