Review of MPost
Review of MPost
Anyone who lives in Nairobi, whether locals or expatriates, has encountered difficulties with the Kenyan postal system, whether sending or receiving mail.
Post is notoriously unreliable, and even when it does arrive, it may be subject to numerous delays. Those in the know will advise first-time users to send only non-valuable items, owing to the system's low likelihood of safe arrival, or to avoid it entirely.
As a resident of Nairobi on and off for the last decade, this writer can attest to the reality of the struggle.
A significant obstacle is the absence of a proper, dependable addressing system in the Kenyan capital. Indeed, this is a challenge for the entire continent, which is home to an estimated 440 million unaddressed people. Globally, 4 billion people lack any form of physical address.
Kenyan innovators have a track record of leveraging even the most basic mobile technology to solve significant problems, with mobile money service M-Pesa being the most frequently cited example. Another "M," local startup MPost, is tackling the country's broken addressing system.
MPost Mobile Platform
MPost launched a mobile platform in 2016 that converts a user's mobile phone number to an official virtual address. Users register via a mobile or web application, or by dialing a USSD number, and are then guided through an identification process. They receive their own virtual postal address after paying a one-time US$3 registration fee.
When a user receives mail at their preferred post office, a unique QR-coded stamp is generated and the user is notified via SMS that they can pick up their letters or parcels or have them couriered to their exact location for an additional fee.
MPost CEO Abdulaziz (Aziz) Omar, who co-founded the company with Felix Gichaga, Twahir Mohamed, and Nene Kariuki, describes MPost as a "mobile post office."
"It enables any mobile phone user's phone to function similarly to a mobile post office. It enables you to convert your mobile phone number into a valid postal address "'He stated.
Omar actually came up with the idea for the startup in 2011, when he was denied a government job due to his lack of an individual postal address. The harm caused by a lack of an effective addressing system extends much further, impairing access to financial services and commerce.
"The identified gap was the lack of reliable, affordable addresses required in today's postal and logistical space to facilitate Know Your Customer (KYC) and commerce, particularly e-commerce," Omar added.
Delivering Growth
MPost is still in its infancy, but has already secured some significant partnerships. It gained access to 40,000 potential customers early on through a deal with the Kenyan Postal Corporation. A subsequent agreement with Safaricom, Kenya's largest mobile operator, enabled Safaricom's 33 million customers to register for an MPost address via a dedicated USSD code provided by the firm.
All of this has resulted in MPost amassing a client base of over 250,000, which Omar claims was accomplished with almost no marketing.
"The uptake has been phenomenal, both in terms of customer onboarding and platform usage," he said.
The startup is still aiming for significant growth and participated in the Startupbootcamp AfriTech accelerator program in Cape Town in 2018, which provided a small investment but accelerated the startup's funding journey in other ways.
MPost raised a US$1.9 million Series A round in December of last year, with investors from South Africa, Australia, Japan, the United States, Canada, and Nigeria participating. Blue-chip institutions, venture capital funds, and high-net-worth individuals were among the investors.
According to Omar, the investment will be used to expand MPost's proprietary technology platform and operations.
"We are speeding up the development of our product functionality and expanding our value-added service offerings," he explained.
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