Kenya - Startup under 3 years old

Describe your project or startup in a few words

Sungura democratizes stock trading. Anyone can invest in the top global and local companies from their phone with as little as 10 bob. And with educational, AI, and social features, we're empowering everyone to learn to put their money to work.

01.01 Describe your startup in more detail

Sungura is an investing app that aims to make financial markets accessible to everyone. We're designing the world's most intuitive stock trading app from the ground up. Our goal is to turn everyone into an investor, no matter their level of wealth or experience. Sungura is a tech startup, not a brokerage. We partner with brokerages and payment processors to handle deposits and trading operations. Our mission is solely focused on building our technology. The license we seek under the CMA Regulatory Sandbox reflects this role. As the founder, I saw how hard investing can be. I've been interested in the market my whole life. Gamestop showed me how markets can empower the people over the wealthy and connected. I wanted in. I signed up to 10+ brokerages open to Kenyans. They all wanted nothing to do with my small pot of money. Things needed to change. Sungura was founded to bring trading to the people. The Sungura Revolution starts in Kenya, but will spread across Africa and the world.

01.02 What is the main problem you are trying to solve?

Kenyans largely store their liquid wealth in bank accounts, mobile money deposits, or cash. And they earn very little interest, if any at all, on this wealth. Those that want to grow this wealth often turn to harmful methods like gambling, or illiquid methods like property. We want to show Kenyans that there's a better way. The stock market is inaccessible to most Kenyans. The NSE requires investors to buy minimum of 100 shares per order, through out-of-date brokers. International stocks are only accessible through complex, expert-focused platforms. Kenyans have KES 5.16 trillion in banks, 315.97 billion in cash, and 273.9 billion in M-Pesa deposits. And yet, the total market cap of the NSE is only 1.79 trillion. Kenyans bet KES 2,800 a second, rivaling the trading volume of the NSE. By bringing the markets to the people, we solve two problems. We allow ordinary people to build their wealth just like the rich can, and we inject more money into Kenyan companies, boosting the economy

01.03 Tell us the major benefits and/or advantages of using the product/service that your startup provides (at least 3).

All of the benefits of Sungura come from our focus. Sungura is Trading for the People. Our features are designed to make investing cheap, easy, and fun. We offer: * The world's most intuitive investing app: Sungura is designed from the ground-up for simplicity, elegance, and intuitiveness.* It is the Eames chair of investing apps. * Mobile money and bank deposits * Both local and international stocks and ETFs * Fractional trading: Investors can buy a fraction of any stock with as little as 10 shillings * Zero commissions: Investors no longer have to see their gains eroded by commissions, particularly those investing small amounts * Leveraged trading: Our users can boost their returns up to 20x with interest-free leveraged trading * Sungura AI helps users discover investing opportunities, learn about the markets, and answer any questions they have. *For example, both limit and stop/take orders are presented as 'custom price orders' in a single, graphical interface.

01.04 Please describe who exactly your startup’s product/service is aimed at serving. Who are the targeted beneficiaries?

Sungura aims to introduce stock trading and other financial markets to everyone in Kenya, and later, across Africa and the world. The Sungura Revolution begins with three distinct groups of people: 1. Youths who use gambling apps: Over 80% of unemployed youths see sports betting as their ticket out of poverty. We want to show the youth a better way, by offering an intuitive mobile app with leveraged trading, low minimums, and M-PESA deposits and withdrawals. 2. People who don't save for retirement: Less than 20% of Kenyans actively save for retirement. But if someone invested KES 10,000 a month in an S&P 500 ETF over the last 30 years, they would be sitting on KES 29M today. We want to give this power to everyone. 3. People who keep their wealth in cash or mobile money. Kenya is the home of mobile money. We want to show people that save in cash or M-Pesa how to put their money to work for them in the stock market.

01.05 When was your company established?

2024-06-05

01.06 Are you already selling your product/service?

No

01.07 How many other owners are there within your startup?

0

01.08 Among the other owners, how many are female?

0

01.09 Please describe the profile of the other owners within your startup (skills, experience, etc.)

N/A

01.10 If you have a website, a social media page (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin…), or app, please provide the link(s) here:

https://sungura.trade

01.11 Which industry best describes your project?

g) Financial services

02.01.01 My startup contributes to the No poverty goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.01.02 No poverty - Justification for my startup

Sungura's primary goal is to empower the poor to save money and build wealth by investing in the markets just like the wealthy can. We allow people to start investing with as little as 10 shillings, and provide them with extensive investor education resources, including an AI assistant, so that nobody is excluded from building wealth. We want to turn the poor away from predatory gambling apps and zero-interest deposit accounts, and start them on a journey to financial freedom. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step. We want each person to be able to save and compound their wealth over time, no matter how little they start with. When people living in poverty have access to safe, reliable ways to save and build wealth, everything changes. They can afford to take their children to school, invest in their farms, and chart a path out of poverty.

02.02.01 My startup contributes to the Zero hunger goal

3

02.02.02 Zero hunger - Justification for my startup

02.03.01 My startup contributes to the Good health and well-being goal

4

02.03.02 Good health and well-being - Justification for my startup

02.04.01 My startup contributes to the Quality education goal

6

02.04.02 Quality education - Justification for my startup

Financial education is neglected in schools. People graduate knowing little about stocks, bonds, investing, and compound interest. But education is the key to a better life. Sungura wants to bring the benefits of financial education to all. We want to teach everyone to become an investor, no matter their starting point. Our personalized AI assistant, Sungura AI, aims to be a one-stop-shop for any questions a user has about the market. Sungura's financial education is not limited to AI. We aim to build a knowledgebase of reliable articles explaining the different kinds of investments, their opportunities, and their risks. These articles will be embedded within in-app tooltips, so everyone can make informed investing decisions.

02.05.01 My startup contributes to the Gender equality goal

5

02.05.02 Gender equality - Justification for my startup

We want to turn families' wealth away from predatory gambling apps towards reliable investments. When women have access to tools that can help them save and build their families' wealth, they become empowered to take their children to school, buy menstrual and reproductive health products, and improve their family farms. However, families across Kenya often have their limited financial resources diverted into wasteful gambling, or otherwise spent on harmful alcoholic drinks. Tools for wealth generation are unevenly distributed across class and gender. When families don't have the tools to build their wealth, it is easier for that wealth to be wasted. We want to bring the power of investing to all, and women are a key part of that. We will target our marketing to show women that investing is not a male pursuit, and emphasizing that investing can help them build wealth for themselves and their families future.

02.06.01 My startup contributes to the Clean water and sanitation goal

2

02.06.02 Clean water and sanitation - Justification for my startup

02.07.01 My startup contributes to the Affordable and clean energy goal

5

02.07.02 Affordable and clean energy - Justification for my startup

The UN recognizes sustainable investment as critical to the Affordable and Clean Energy SDG. Sungura encourages investment in ESG stocks, particularly those leading the transition away from fossil fuels towards sustainable energy. Our app will note the stocks that are critical to this transition, and the stocks that pollute and desecrate the environment. Furthermore, by giving poor people access to wealth-generation, we allow them to move away from kerosene lamps and firewood towards solar lamps and LPG cooking.

02.08.01 My startup contributes to the Decent work and economic growth

6

02.08.02 Decent work and economic growth - Justification for my startup

Sungura supplements job security by providing a second income stream for everyone. This allows people to save emergency funds, allowing them to quit exploitative jobs and look for new jobs without jeopardizing their financial security. Sungura aims to be a fallback option for everyone, so that nobody will be stuck with exploitative jobs or predatory debt. Some investors will be so good that they will be able to make trading their full-time job. A critical factor in economic growth is access to capital. Kenya currently focuses on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), but we neglect the wealth sitting in our people's pockets. We want to enable any Kenyan to invest in local companies, giving them the capital to expand operations and grow the economy. This boosts the economy twofold: by allowing companies to grow, and by putting the returns of that growth in ordinary people's pockets.

02.09.01 My startup contributes to the Industry innovation and infrastructure

7 - Strongly Agree

02.09.02 Industry innovation and infrastructure - Justification for my startup

Sungura uses innovative technology to bring the markets to the people. We want to harness the power of the smartphone, AI, and financial technology revolutions to create a world-leading investment platform accessible to all. We're modernizing the financial infrastructure of the country, bringing it up to and beyond the standards set by the leading first-world financial markets. The true power of Sungura is how it powers investment in industrialization and innovation in the country as a whole. The NSE is a small, slow exchange, with minimal capital injection and IPO activity. Many of Kenya's leading industrial companies, like Bidco, stay private because of the lack of investment in our public markets. We want to provide a shot in the arm for the market by bringing it the wealth of ordinary Kenyans. By boosting investment in the public markets, we will give Kenyan companies the capital they need to industrialize the nation, and share that wealth with ordinary investors.

02.10.01 My startup contributes to the Reduced inequalities goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.10.02 Reduced inequalities - Justification for my startup

There is a simple dynamic that powers inequality in the 21st century. The poor invest labor, and the rich invest capital. The development of financial markets has greatly boosted the returns to capital beyond that of labor. The poor don't have access to the same kinds of investments that the rich do. Traditional finance has account minimums, order minimums, and fees that are well within the reach of the wealthy, but inaccessible to the poor. Sungura brings access to those investments to everyone, no matter how little they have. We're empowering the poor to benefit from the stock growth and dividends that the rich have. International investments in the world's leading high-tech companies are particularly inaccessible to ordinary people. We want to change that. Sungura brings change to the local markets as well. Individually, ordinary people are weak, but together, we are strong. The capital invested on Sungura will encourage private companies to IPO, bringing their profits to all.

02.11.01 My startup contributes to the Sustainable cities and communities goal

3

02.11.02 Sustainable cities and communities - Justification for my startup

02.12.01 My startup contributes to the Responsible consumption and production goal

3

02.12.02 Responsible consumption and production - Justification for my startup

02.13.01 My startup contributes to the Climate action goal

6

02.13.02 Climate action - Justification for my startup

Climate action begins with investment. Sungura encourages investment in climate-friendly stocks by offering our users ESG ETFs and providing tooltips that highlight climate-friendly stocks and warn against polluting stocks. Sungura aims to be the climate-friendliest investing app, and in the future plans to offer the ability for users to buy and trade carbon offsets on reputable markets. Operationally, Sungura uses low-carbon vendors across our toolchain, for cloud computing, trade execution, and financial operations. Every company has a part in eliminating emissions in its own backyard, and Sungura proactively takes acton to minimize our carbon footprint.

02.14.01 My startup contributes to the Life below water goal

3

02.14.02 Life below water - Justification for my startup

02.15.01 My startup contributes to the Life on land goal

4

02.15.02 Life on land - Justification for my startup

02.16.01 My startup contributes to the Peace Justice and Strong Institutions goal

5

02.16.02 Peace Justice and Strong Institutions- Justification for my startup

Sungura helps build the inclusivity and accountability of financial markets by including ordinary people in investment. Financial institutions like the NSE are important to the economic fabric of the nation, and the governance of public companies is subject to shareholder demands. Sungura allows everyone to be a participant in the financial institutions of the country, bolstering their inclusion and accountability to the ordinary person. We plan to build features allowing shareholders on our platform to participate in shareholder votes, no matter what fraction of a share they own. Everyone should be able to participate in the decisions of the country's largest companies.

02.17.01 My startup contributes to the Partnerships for the goal

6

02.17.02 Partnerships for the goal - Justification for my startup

Sungura will contribute to the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development by publishing reliable and comprehensive aggregated data about the investments of our users and the Kenyan capital markets as a whole. This data will help us and policymakers understand the impact of investing on the Sustainable Development Goals, and target initiatives to help boost investment in areas critical to the goals, as well as interventions to assist our poorest investors.

06.01 There are a large number of customers who already use a product/service very similar to the product/service we envision creating.

2

06.02 The product/service represents an entirely new type of product/service.

3

06.03 The product/service could be described as a new technology.

4

06.04 The product/service is an improvement on an existing product or service.

7 - Strongly Agree

06.05 The product/service could be described as an extension of a range of products or services.

7 - Strongly Agree

06.06 The product/service responds to a demand or need that has not been satisfied by other products/services.

7 - Strongly Agree

06.07 The product/service is a new version of an old product/service.

2

06.08 Justification for my startup

There are platforms with similar features (zero commissions, fractional trading, etc) that seek to democratize investing in other countries (known as 'neobrokers'), but none are widely available in Kenya. However, Sungura aims to innovate even beyond the world's leading neobrokers. We are one of the first pioneers in the use of AI in an investing app. We're creating the world's first intelligent investing app.* The best innovations are not necessarily entirely new. For instance Uber was preceded by Zimride (now known as Lyft). Like Uber, we're bringing innovations together to fit our user's needs. *Note: Not an AI investment advisor that invests for you (those already exist), but a user-directed investing interface that moulds itself to your demands. The first AI copilot for investing, if you will.

06.09 Competitive Analysis

We have two main categories of competitors: traditional brokers like EFG Hermes, and CFD brokers like Pepperstone. CFD brokers do not offer real stocks, but rather a gambling product that takes money from losers to give to winners to simulate stock trading (with high commissions). We have a number of advantages over both: * An intuitive mobile app. CFD brokers have complex expert-oriented apps, and traditional brokers usually require you to call or email them to trade. We're building the first app that's designed for ordinary people * Zero commissions * Fractional trading * Sungura AI * Funding using mobile money Our advantages over traditional brokers: * Both local and international stocks Our advantages over CFD brokers: * Real stock purchases, not just CFDs (which are limited to a small number of highly-traded stocks and have high commissions and spreads)

11.05 Are you initiating actions within your community to promote the role of female entrepreneurs?

The main prospective cofounder that I wanted to recruit to build Sungura with me was female, however, she chose to pursue a masters degree over entrepreneurship.