Nigerian startup, Simplifyd, has raised US$500,000 in pre-seed funding to solve the challenges associated with accessing affordable data.
The new funding came from Future Africa and Y Combinator – after Simplifyd was selected for the W22 batch of the Silicon Valley-based accelerator.
The startup was founded by Tomi Amao, Mayowa Amao, Sam Keiru and Abiola Fajimi in 2020 to avail affordable data to mobile and web app users in emerging markets across Africa.
As part of its drive to become the platform of choice for data-free access to the internet across Africa, the startup has also launched ZeroData, a toll-free internet application platform to allow users enjoy access to data.
The company said the ZeroData app is available for mobile (Android) and desktop (MacOS and Windows) and also allows users access instant data-free access to listed apps and websites, consequently allowing businesses to bundle data with their apps
What Simplifyd is saying
Tomi Amao, co-founder and CEO said the ZeroData was created to support greater digital inclusion across the continent by solving challenges around affordability.
He said, “ZeroData is designed to cater to both users with active data plans and those with none. For users with an active data plan, their data plan isn’t consumed when they make use of the application. Our app also enables users with no active data plans to enjoy uninterrupted access to the internet apps listed on the platform.”
“For us, the realisation that Africans pay the highest rate for mobile internet in the world proportional to income is worrying. This is a significant challenge that we are happy to solve sustainably through the launch of ZeroData. We are creating a convenient platform to access the internet away from the challenge of huge data consumption for the continent’s growing number of Internet users.”
