iKhokha

PROJECT DIRECTED BY Malvern Kandemwa

WRITTEN BY Romana Moares

Kerry Ho-Van Rensburg, Head of Marketing, iKhoka

Raising South Africa’s Potential

South African iKhokha is a fintech company that develops digital tools to help entrepreneurs start, run and grow their businesses. The aim of the company is ambitious yet simple: to accelerate entrepreneurship in South Africa by making it easier for anyone to run their business.

Headquartered in Umhlanga, the fastest growing wealth market in South Africa, iKhokha was co-founded by Matt Putman, Ramsay Daly, and Clive Putman in 2012 with a view to redefining the way SMEs do business through mobile innovation. The mission was to develop and deliver business tools that anyone can use to thrive in business.

“We have just celebrated our 10th anniversary and are growing fast,” says Kerry Ho-Van Rensburg, Head of Marketing at iKhokha, pointing out that iKhokha doesn’t play in the corporate space, its aim is to assist small businesses in South Africa, the small entrepreneurs that are the backbone of the country’s economy.

Today, iKhokha – meaning “to pay” in isiZulu – is one of the fastest-growing fintech companies in Africa with 260 employees and scaling up fast. Kerry, who joined the company last year, says: “This year, we expect to double the size of the business. Within the next five years, we want to expand within Africa, and then overseas to Europe.”

iKhokha

Unique of its kind

iKhokha believes that everyone should have access to the digital economy. That is the very purpose of the company’s existence. From card machines to complete POS solutions, a free app packed with digital business tools, e-commerce products, business funding and education, the company has been striving to finding new ways to accelerate entrepreneurship in South Africa.

“We are born and bred South Africans, but we operate to global standards. We are a purpose-driven business that believes in making forward-thinking technology available and accessible to all South African business owners, whether their business is just starting out or already on the highway to growth,” says Kerry. “We’re not like other tech companies. We’re proud to say that our team of product owners, designers, developers, and engineers has built all our digital products in-house. This makes us a bona fide African tech company which isn’t just outsourcing projects to global tech talent, but which is investing in home-grown South African skills.”

From the variety of novel products, she highlights iKhokha’s flagship - the Shaker Solo, suitable for those looking for a card machine that will keep up with high-volume business. Thanks to its dual connectivity of a 4G SIM and Wi-Fi, the Shaker Solo keeps businesses running even during load shedding. The Shaker Solo is the most advanced of its kind, and even features VAT and tip functionality. It is a standalone device, so no smartphone is needed.

Another outstanding product is Mover Pro: the perfect card machine for a business starting out and for businesses already on the go, and the company’s most sold card machine. It fits in a pocket so the owner can accept card payments anywhere anytime. All they have to do to start making sales is connect the device to their smartphone via Bluetooth.

The company has recently launched a series of e-commerce products, starting with the iKhokha Payment Gateway. It’s the first in the iK Pay Online product stable, with more easy-touse e-commerce products to follow soon.

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iKhokha’s card payment device

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Moving with the times

Accentuated by Covid-19, the focus is on moving from cash to digital payments. And iKhokha provides the tools to do just that. Kerry points out that many South African businesses, especially in the informal sector, are still cashbased, but in the wake of the global pandemic that has made cash ‘dirty’, people are welcoming card machines.

“The one area that we really want to concentrate on with this massive opportunity is the informal markets in South Africa. The township market is predominantly cash-driven, but we are starting to see movement towards the digital influx. In combination with another of our products, iK Vend, merchants can offer their customers the option to buy electricity, water and gas online, which is a very big thing for the informal market in South Africa.” What makes iKhokha special is that the products and services they provide are very different from those provided by a bank. Traditionally, small businesses in South Africa simply couldn’t afford a card machine. Monthly rental fees and high transaction rates made it nearly impossible for these businesses to take part in the digital economy.

“With us, SMEs buy the card machine outright, then it is theirs for life. That means no monthly rental fees – ever. iKhokha card machines accept Visa and MasterCard debit and credit cards, along with Apple Pay and Samsung Pay. We also have minimal transaction rates. Simple and affordable,” Kerry points out.

iKhokha

iKhokha

The human factor

Penetrating the South African informal market as a relatively new brand has not been easy, yet the company has been reaping great success. However, the steep business growth has been a challenge in its own right, Kerry admits. “We are scaling at such a pace that it is obviously not easy to manage the process, in terms of both human resources and new processes, new ways of working. And top talent needs to be persuaded to accept an offer from someone they don’t really know.” For Kerry herself, this was obviously not the case. With a long track record in the digital industry, she clearly saw iKhokha’s promising potential. “I knew the future was going to be digital at a time when most people didn’t really know what digital was,” she muses.

She explains that by starting in digital agencies, she got a comprehensive understanding of the industry from development and analytics to data and performance media. Later on, she took this knowledge to the corporate world and worked for several listed companies, moving to Makro South Africa and later on to Massmart as Head of Digital Marketing, before finally accepting the role of Head of Marketing at iKhokha. “Our business really is about people. Every business talks about ROI and how more money can be made for its stakeholders but our goal is really to help the SMEs out there. South Africa’s leadership is poor, and small businesses suffer as there isn’t anyone to support them. At iKhokha, we don’t just talk about support, it is what we really do. It is great to be part of a business that prides itself on living up to its promises.”

She affirms that the company is set to continue its growth trajectory, preparing new products, investing in resources as well as technology, scaling and planning big for the next five years, in line with its mission. “While we’re different, we all believe in our collective ability to positively influence South Africa by uplifting the powerhouse of our economy: small businesses.”

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