Kenyan-based blockchain startup Bitsoko has secured a grant of $100,000 from the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation through the Grand Challenges Explorations (GCE) initiative. The grant will enable the startup to open its doors in Ghana, Sierra Leone, and Zimbabwe in 2019. The grant will also be used to fund the research and development of its projects.
GCE is a granting mechanism that funds innovative ideas that aim to solve global health and development challenges.
Bitsoko will also receive a grant worth $1 million if its project is a success. The startup aims to combine the good attributes of mobile money and blockchain technology to enable affordable transactions through its mobile app. The app is still in the testing stage in Kenya.
Co-founder and lead developer at Bitsoko Allan Juma said: “The financial structure in Kenya and throughout Africa has changed rapidly since the birth of mobile money by M-Pesa. We believe that this will only continue to grow, and tools such as Bitsoko that leverage blockchain technology to lower transaction costs will be at the forefront of this boom.”
Bitsoko co-founder Daniel Bloch is overseeing a global health and development research project titled “Enable Universal Acceptance of Mobile Money Payments”.
