MAM Telecom Ltd, a Kampala-based payments infrastructure startup, has obtained a $250,000 grant (about KSh32 million) from an unnamed South African private investor.
The funding will be used to secure regulatory licences, recruit technical and operations staff, develop the platform and put in place risk and compliance systems before the company launches in Uganda.
The firm intends to solve the chronic problem of mobile-money agents running out of float by providing a digital float service that gives agents and other financial service providers centralised settlement, reconciliation, reporting and API connections to fintechs and businesses.
MAM Telecom will not act as a consumer wallet; instead it will function as a settlement layer that links existing participants in the financial system.
Founder and chief executive Milon Ahabwe Mutebile said: “MAM Telecom has always been focused on solving an infrastructure problem rather than simply building another financial application.” He added: “Securing this grant is an important validation of that approach. More importantly, it gives us the resources to strengthen our regulatory foundation, bring in critical talent and move from planning into disciplined execution.”
The company is also creating MAM Fex, a cross-border remittance and foreign-exchange product that will run on the same infrastructure.
Its business plan points to fragmented agent liquidity, delayed float top-ups and limited visibility into liquidity and settlement as key gaps in East Africa’s digital payments market.
Agent float shortages often force customers to move between agents to complete withdrawals, a challenge the platform aims to address.
MAM Telecom will embed anti-money-laundering, know-your-customer and transaction-monitoring controls from the start, adopting a compliance-first approach.
Mutebile said: “We see this as the beginning of a much more intensive phase of execution.” He continued: “Our priority is to build the regulatory, technical and operational foundations properly before scaling.”
After completing its rollout in Uganda, the firm plans to expand its services across the wider East African region.
