Tech Start-ups to Watch in 2014 - Mdundo

What: If you read UP there’s a good chance, you already know Mdundo. It’s an online marketplace designed for mobile phones where local musicians can upload music and fans can download. They recently released their first application for Android phones and have expanded in to Tanzania. They launched in 2012 and have had 250,000 downloads to date and have 13.000 users per month.

Who: Mdundo was founded in November 2012 by 88mph together with Frasha (from P-Unit). Two of 88mph’s previous employees are now working full time for Mdundo as CEO and CTO. Besides that Mdundo has 7 employees and an advisory board.

Scalability: Mdundo started to test their product in Tanzania in November 2013. They didn’t have resources to go there physically, but the service is working without their presence as artists are already signing up online. They now have 50 artists and 15,000 users in Tanzania. This shows a huge potential for expansion to the entire East African market.

Revenue: Users can download a few songs for free but has to subscribe monthly for full access to the library. Subscribers pay 100 Kenyan Shilling a month to get unlimited downloads from Mdundo. In addition Mdundo is starting to generate revenue from advertisement and corporate partnerships. Musicians can join for free and revenue is shared with them based on their number of downloads.

By Joseph Kibiru & George Murage