M-PESA is routinely discussed at mobile payments conferences and among top bankers as the proof of concept for mobile payments. It's always a bit strange since it's not often in the technology industry that Africa seems years ahead of the United States.
I think it's a good example of a space where not a lot of institutional investors (VCs, angels, others) here in the States have been willing to commit dollars because it's a long-term endeavor with competition--in other words, exactly the kind of business that venture capital is supposed to help bolster. It's a shame, really, because there are probably many other innovations with serious implications (i.e. not consumer internet startups) that have suffered a similar fate at the hand of a weak and risk-fearing investment community. Maybe Obama's new policy will help change that.
I think it's a good example of a space where not a lot of institutional investors (VCs, angels, others) here in the States have been willing to commit dollars because it's a long-term endeavor with competition--in other words, exactly the kind of business that venture capital is supposed to help bolster. It's a shame, really, because there are probably many other innovations with serious implications (i.e. not consumer internet startups) that have suffered a similar fate at the hand of a weak and risk-fearing investment community. Maybe Obama's new policy will help change that.