You’re reading an eChai Interview, an insightful and candid conversation with Entrepreneurs — a publication of eChai Ventures.

eChai Showcase : M-Changa

Today on eChai Showcase we are introducing an inspiring startup from Kenya - M-Changa,  a service that allows you to manage a fundraiser right from your mobile phone. From collecting payments via M-Pesa to inviting anyone globally to support your cause, M-Changa helps you Changa faster, smarter, with less stress.

Here is the insightful and candid conversation with Kyai Mullei, Co-Founder, M-Changa. Kyai Mullei is an IT and Social Entrepreneur with over 7 years’ experience leading information system design, development and implementation businesses. Since 2006 he has managed his own consultancy, Info System Solutions Limited, providing hybrid software solutions to small and mid-size business. He also co-founded Kenya’s first development focused web portal (DevInfo Kenya), worked on an online Lottery in Haiti, and supported customized ERPs for EPASS International Limited and the African Center for Economic Growth (ACEG).

Join eChai.in to ask any specific questions to Kyai.

How did you come up with the idea of 'M-Changa'' ?

Above all else, M-Changa is about access. It’s about access to tools, access to people, and access to capital. It’s about access to life’s most important things: weddings, education, medicine, community rehabilitation and more.

Make fundraising universally accessible.

For centuries, East Africans engaged in “Harambee” and “Changa”, the traditional practices of coming together to contribute. These face-to-face, cash-based activities were the standard way community members helped each other pay for everything from weddings and education funds to funerals. But urbanization and geographic dispersion, compounded with rising transportation costs, have thwarted the ability to fundraise in the traditional communal manner. Through M-Changa’s new application of mobile technology, the power of communal fundraising can be regained.

What problem are you solving?

Over two thirds of the world’s population lives in communities without an adequate social safety net. This leaves millions of people worldwide without the means to smooth over financial and lifestyle shocks---including medical care, school fees, and others. In absence of formal support, many in the developing world--and particularly in Africa--turn to family and friends on a reciprocal basis many times over the course of the year. However, rising urbanization and geographical dispersion have put this system of reciprocal giving under serious strain, as fund collectors attempt to reconcile payments from multiple payment systems and remotely convince their donors that funds are being used appropriately. M-Changa solves this problem by tracking community payments and providing a safe, transparent and mobile accounting space for life’s most critical causes.

How does it work?

SMS – you send the name of your fundraiser to M-Changa and in two steps you are ready to go with a virtual account number to begin collecting funds via mobile money and credit card

ONLINE – you register your fundraiser on M-Changa(online platform) and in two steps you are ready to go with a virtual account number to begin collecting funds via mobile money and credit card

What is your target market?

Kenyans in East Africa and worldwide

What is your competitive advantage?

Our competitive advantage lies in 1) technology (straddling offline and online payments ecosystems) 2) pricing (of credit card and mobile money transactions) and 3) speed of creating virtual account and settlement for credit card transactions.

How much time did it take you from conceptualization of 'M-Changa'' to actually launching it in the market ?

1 year

Tell us more about your team?

KyaiMullei, Founder & CEO

KyaiMullei is an IT and Social Entrepreneur with over 7 years’ experience leading information system design. Through his consultancy firm InfoSystem Solutions Limited – he primarily focused on the design and implementation of hybrid software solutions for small to medium sized firms worldwide. To date, in Kenya, he is a cofounder of DevInfo Kenya, Kenya's first web portal dedicated to development information.

David Mark, Founder & CTO

David is a serial entrepreneur and recognized expert in Human Interface design. Prior to co-founding M-Changa, David developed the first street parking crowd-sourcing application for New York City. David's contributions in Africa and India include the very first SMS HIV Risk Assessment system, as well as a mobile device that enables clinical research in non-traditional environments, among others. David is a certified Project Management Professional (PMP) and in 2012 served as a mentor and judge for the Pivot East competition

Jefkine Kafuna, Lead Developer

Jefkine Kafuna is a proficient developer with 8 years of commercial experience in the design and development of quality solutions using a range of different technologies. Concentrating on Mobile Communication Systems, Financial Systems and Clustered Computing Frameworks like Hadoop,Jefkine has extensive experience in the use of open source software and libraries to implement enterprise class applications. Jefkineis a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH). He is also a keen proponent of agile methodologies and has successfully introduced agile techniques into projects which he has managed.

Pauline Adisa, Chief Sales Agent

Pauline Adisa is a seasoned customer relations manager with 4 years of experience in the retail industry. Pauline was engaged as a business customer & client manager at Chandarana Supermarkets, the sixth largest food retailer in Kenya. Pauline managed client orders, store inventories and branch inventory reconciliation between the groups' 10 outlets. Pauline also interfaced with Chandarana Supermarket clients by phone and email and hosted specialized meetings with clients in order to gauge satisfaction levels and resolve complaints.

Rajan Trivedi, Director, Transparency, Research, and Strategy

Rajan is a public servant and social entrepreneur committed to the intersection of international development, startups, and technology. Rajan previously served in the Obama Administration, serving as a Special Assistant at the Millennium Challenge Corporation. In addition to supporting the Chief Financial Officer, Rajan was responsible for promoting and managing various technology and innovation projects, and helped with strategic communications, partnerships/outreach, and project management to promote the transparency and open data portfolio at the MCC.

How do you plan to market your product? What are your customer acquisition strategies?

  • Radio Advertising* - Tap radio stations in Nairobi to run awareness drives twice per month explaining the product in vernacular to specific users
  • Social Media Promotion *- Run advertising fundraisers on Google+, Facebook. LinkedIn and Twitter
  • Newspaper Advertising* - Run stories on all major print dailies (business and regular)
  • Website Promotional Content* - Constantly refresh content on M-Changa website to appeal to both market segments and all fundraising areas
  • Savings and Loans Awareness Drives* - Execute presentations with 3 major village saving and loans association through NGOs and CBOs
  • Campus Awareness Drives* - Have sustained presence 2 times per month at various mid-level and 10 regular universities in the city of Nairobi to popularize product, conduct seminars etc.
  • Religious Organization Drives - Execute presentations with 5 major religious organizations 2 times per month to create awareness of the product
  • Agented Viral Marketing - Use marketing agents to distribute flyers, cards, and other promotional material

What is the revenue model of 'M-Changa'' ?

4,25% of funds raised, 5% for incoming credit card transactions

What do you want to achieve from this? What is your larger goal or vision?

Based on its deep expertise in mobile technology and extensive research on the economic ecosystem of East Africa, M-Changa was able to create a new concept for mobile fundraising, and successfully bring a stable product to market. For this reason M-Changa considers it realistic to achieve its lofty vision in 2 years:

Become East Africa’s #1 platform for managing fundraisers.

Just as ‘M-Pesa’ has become synonymous with sending money in Africa (i.e., “M-Pesa me the payment”), M-Changa will become synonymous with raising money for a cause (i.e., “Let’s M-Changa the money").

What sort of support and feedback are you looking from the community?

Networking and collaboration

Checkout this video of M-Change which very well explains the service : 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D6qlqIeKatM