dar-es-salaam
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Edwin Bruno knows what an introduction is worth
He started by finding customers for his own ideas. With Smart Lab, the Tanzanian entrepreneur is helping other founders reach the people who can give theirs a chance.
Smart Lab gets Tanzania’s startups into the room
A telecom partnership, climate grants and a new fintech challenge reveal how the Dar es Salaam company helps founders reach the people who can test, fund and buy what they build.
Ramani.io
Ramani.io is a Tanzania-born, San Francisco-incorporated B2B fintech digitizing the micro-distribution layer of Africa's consumer-packaged-goods (CPG) supply chain. It hands point-of-sale, inventory and procurement software to thousands of micro-distribution centres (MDCs) that move products from brands like Coca-Cola, Diageo and AB InBev to corner shops, then uses the real-time sales and inventory data to underwrite working-capital financing. A Y Combinator alumnus that raised a $32M Series A in 2022 and holds a lending license from the Bank of Tanzania, Ramani is now evolving into a financial marketplace and B2B e-commerce platform connecting banks, brands and resellers.
Iain Usiri
Iain Usiri is the co-founder and CEO of Ramani, a Tanzanian fintech building financial infrastructure for Africa's consumer-packaged-goods supply chains. A Stanford computer science graduate and former Salesforce product manager, he gave up his US immigration status and flew home one-way in 2019 to start the company with his brother Calvin and friend Martin Kibet. Ramani gives micro distribution centers free point-of-sale and inventory software, then monetizes through lending - and in 2022 raised a $32M Series A led by Flexcap Ventures after passing through Y Combinator's W20 batch.