Indian founded firm buys out Ghanaian company

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SME Times News Bureau | 20 Aug, 2014
US-based leader in mobile applications Kirusa, founded by an Indian, has acquired instant messaging provider Saya in Ghana for an unspecified amount to expand its footprint across the African continent.

"The acquisition of Saya's technology, workforce and IP (intellectual property) will enable us to provide our InstaVoice mobile apps (applications) across Africa," Kirusa founder chief executive Inderpal Singh Mumick said Wednesday in a statement here.

The New Jersey headquartered company has a software development facility in this tech hub and expanded its India operations by buying PlusRay Innovations Ltd, a city-based start-up that built mobile messaging app Cooltok, in May for an undisclosed sum.

"Africa remains a top priority for our business in view of the phenomenal growth of the mobile industry in the continent, with huge potential to build products for the region," Mumick said on the occasion.

Three-year-old Saya focuses on delivering compelling messaging applications which enhance mobile user experience and are tailored to mobile consumers in emerging markets, including Africa.

Popular for its real-time 'Street Chat' messaging application in the West African country, Saya's platform includes social network integration, location-based and group chat across multiple phone platforms such as J2ME, Android and iOS.

"Though we wanted to create a world class product made by Africans, for Africans, we remain focused on empowering millions of mobile subscribers worldwide," Saya chief executive Robert Lamptey said in the statement.

Saya was incubated in 2011 at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology, which trains, mentors and invests in technology start-ups at Accra in Ghana.

As a leader in voice messaging and social media apps that enable mobile subscribers to have a voice and share their stories with their family and friends the world over, Kirusa offers product solutions like InstaVoice, Celeb Connect and Sports Connect to about 80 million users across Africa, India, Latin America and West Asia.

Built on patented technology, the company's apps are scalable, multimodal and cloud platforms, which process over a billion events a month.

Saya's investors include the Meltwater Foundation, Forward Partners and Progress through Business.