AFRICA a taxi hailing app business : Mondo Ride , 2016 also saw investment in a hyperlocal search and discovery platform -Oliza, and a platform aggregator for golfers – Golflan . Recently , i3 has been evaluating investments in speech recognition technology enabling companies to support in growing BPO business followed by collaboration in the field of chat bots ; thus , leveraging the power of natural language processing and Artificial Intelligence . The process of selecting these companies is no different to any large company investing in a start-up . For Awtaney , the differentiator is in one simple question .
“ How can we add value to this company , which in turn will add value to Africa ?” he says . “ We have a very significant presence in 25 African countries , so we look at how these companies can benefit from that significant platform .”
Smart investing One particular start-up that the company has invested in is a ride hailing service called Mondo Ride , in Kenya . With Uber already operating in Nairobi , Mondo will utilise the infrastructure and support of iSON Group as a platform on which it can build through its unique business model that aims at the corporate world of Kenya .
Mondo has signed around 40 transport rights contracts with several organisations , including The Kenya commercial bank . These corporate employees will also use Mondo for personal requirements .
This is the added value that iSON Group seeks out in start-ups . Through investment and infrastructure support , iSON can enable Mondo to scale and expand beyond Kenya . “ We feel that once Mondo is successful and gets its big business
www . gigabit . net 163