Operating with a unique vision for sustainable finance, Accesserator helps develop Malawian SMEs by bringing a more traditional angel investment mentality to a landscape often funded by charities and similar initiatives. Accesserator partners promising ventures, ensuring both have ‘skin in the game’, with a view to sell their share back after 5 years.
After pitching at the December edition of the Holland FinTech Meet-up, Accesserator succeeded in securing an investment from another ecosystem participant in attendance and has entered into partnership with two new Malawian enterprises. They also have a standing partnership with the UN who not only screen their potential ventures to ensure promise, but match each Accesserator investment (generally USD 8 000 for a 30-40% stake) with USD 40 000.
Founder Robert Slijk says Accesserator also started CASDE Finance, a micro-finance institution, after “Deciding that a certified financial institution would be a useful tool to provide finance for our partnerships , who require loans as working capital.”
Albeit lagging behind their European counterparts with regards to their operations, it is envisioned that this small lender will begin to embrace fintech solutions, and continue to foster Malawian enterprises from “a very small and local scale, to larger regional scales.”
He also describes that Accesserator could be “the starting point for (finance) companies that are looking for an entrance in Africa”, as Accesserator and their partners already process a sizable amount of transactions. Furthermore, with the gaining popularity of social and sustainable finance, Accesserator provides an ESG (Environmental, Social and Corporate Governance) centered “investment opportunity with low-risk ROI.”