Kenyan Low-Cost Isp Poa Internet Secures $28 Million In Round Led By Afdb-Backed Africa50, Plans To Link Region With Cheap, Limit-Free Connectivity
Kenyan Low-Cost Isp Poa Internet Secures $28 Million In Round Led By Afdb-Backed Africa50, Plans To Link Region With Cheap, Limit-Free Connectivity
01/18/22, 10:00 AM
Money raised
$28 million
Industry
other
In 2020, Africa50, an infrastructure financier backed by the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) Group and a good number of African governments, hosted an innovation challenge that sought affordable and reliable solutions for last-mile internet connectivity across the continent. A proposal by Poa Internet, a Kenyan startup beat 673 others from across the world as a result of which it was added to Africa50’s investment pipeline in addition to winning a cash prize.
Company Info
Additional Info
The startup has laid out its fiber network in neighborhoods that are typically not the first target markets for its competitors like Safaricom Home by East Africa’s biggest telco Safaricom, Faiba by Jamii Telecommunication Limited and Zuku. The startup has also set up Wi-Fi hotspots in public areas, where users pay about $0.18 for 1 GB of data, 10 times cheaper than the country’s telcos charge for a similar bundle of non-expiring internet.