CAPE TOWN, South Africa-Fundamo, a financial services initiative of Sanlam, signed an equity deal with VenFin and Archway Venture Partners to further the company’s goal to establish a mobile payment platform. VenFin acquired a 35-percent equity stake in Fundamo, and Archway Venture Partners acquired 15 percent, with Sanlam holding the remaining 50 percent.
Fundamo said it enables secure, instantaneous payments to be made to an individual, merchant or online vendor from a mobile phone with immediate payment confirmation to each party.
The technology has been designed around short message service (SMS) technology. Fundamo is currently negotiating agreements with mobile-network providers and financial institutions for adoption. The company is running pilot projects on South African mobile-phone networks, with the first commercial product release scheduled for early second-quarter 2001.
