Breaking: YC selects Kenyan fintech startup, Triply as its latest African pick

Triply, a Kenyan fintech that helps travel businesses collect payments has been selected for Y Combinator’s winter 2024 batch. Triply is the latest African startup in the cohort after Cleva, the cross-border payment service, and Miden, the API startup.

Small businesses account for 90% of Africa’s travel industry. However, due to inadequate payment infrastructures, these businesses are unable to receive payments; as a result, they frequently have to use manual payment methods, which reduces the efficiency of their booking systems.

Launched in 2021 by Peter Wachira and Collins Muthinja, Triply helps these travel businesses collect payments and automate their operations. The startup also advertises these businesses on its marketplace to help match the needs of Kenya’s local travel market which is projected to be worth by $749,000 in 2027.

Kenya’s tourism industry is one of its biggest cash cows for foreign income, earning about $2.13 billion from it in 2022. The East African country also expects an uptick in the number of tourists by 2026—with 2.4 million visitors up from 2.1 million in 2021. With a growing middle class and increasing disposable income, Kenyans are also increasingly exploring their own country. This represents a huge opportunity for Triply.

*This is a developing story