Bitmama

What they do:

Bitmama started in 2017 as a P2P digital currency exchange. It quickly grew into a platform where individuals can trade and manage cryptocurrencies, and digital assets conveniently, and has now launched a remittance platform powered by stable-coins called ‘Changera’ to allow individuals to transact internationally at much cheaper rates than established remittance companies in the market. In 2018, Bitmama emerged one of the startups selected for the inaugural Greenhouse Lab female accelerator by Venture Garden Group. Since then, the company has joined other accelerators and programs like LSETF, Seedstars and Startup Germany.

Why we invested:

In response to the financial turmoil in the Nigerian ecosystem, Bitmama provides users with the ability to a) safeguard their funds in USD-pegged USDT, b) facilitate international transfers, c) access global products, and d) invest in cryptocurrency and alternative assets, thus empowering individuals and mitigating the impact of fluctuating FX rates.

The Founder:

Ruth Iselema Ruth graduated as a Pharmacist from Central University Accra, Ghana and forayed into entrepreneurship back in 2013 when the African blockchain and fintech landscape were quite nascent. Crypto traders relied on social media like WhatsApp and Telegram to exchange coins despite associated risks and the process of conducting cross-border remittances proved very rigid for individuals and businessess. In 2016, she was inspired to build solutions that address both challenges in parallel. This led to the birth of Bitmama Inc.

Active in:

Pan-Africa and the USA