Rwandan startup Kayko, founded by brothers Crepin and Kevin Kayisire, is helping small businesses across Africa move away from pen-and-paper record-keeping to digital bookkeeping. The platform allows shop owners, salon operators and other informal enterprises to record sales, manage inventory, track expenses and maintain financial records in one place, giving business owners real-time information about their performance.
The brothers, both graduates of the African Leadership University (ALU), launched Kayko in 2021 after identifying a widespread problem in their communities. Many small businesses in Rwanda and across the continent lacked accounting software designed for their needs. The idea began as a final-year capstone project at ALU, where Crepin Kayisire said the university's Leadership Core programme helped him develop problem-solving skills and understand how to identify business opportunities. The platform now serves more than 15,000 businesses across seven African countries.
Gisele Irasubiza, a shop owner in Busanza, Kigali, exemplifies the impact Kayko has had. She previously struggled to manage her inventory and understand her business finances. The platform has enabled her to monitor different aspects of her business remotely, whether she is at her shop or elsewhere. In December 2025, Kayko raised $1.2 million from investors including Burrow Capital, Luxembourg Development Agency, Hanga Ignite and develoPPP Ventures to expand its services.
The company plans to use the funding to develop lending services and introduce card payment acceptance through mobile phones. Kayko completed a Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard assessment on 10 November 2026, validated by Digital Jewels Africa. However, the company must still meet requirements set by the National Bank of Rwanda before it can offer regulated payment services. This expansion would place Kayko in direct competition with established payment providers such as Flutterwave, Paystack and Pesapal.
Rwanda's payments market remains heavily skewed towards mobile money. According to the National Bank of Rwanda, mobile merchant transactions increased by 40 per cent to 588 million in the year ended June 2025, while card transactions declined by 23 per cent to 1.6 million over the same period. The Central Bank's October 2026 report showed point-of-sale payments at approximately 1 per cent of gross domestic product, compared with 174 per cent for mobile payments. For Rwandan businesses, Kayko's combined approach offers a way to digitise record-keeping while gaining access to financing based on their financial data and accepting card payments.
The founders have emphasised the importance of building a reliable service in Rwanda before expanding into other markets. Their ambition is to simplify financial management for small enterprises, help them access loans and enable them to participate more fully in the digital economy.