Joe Kinvi, a recent graduate of our Civic Accelerator program has recently released Borderless, a game-changing platform. This innovative platform allows Africans in the diaspora to invest together in startups and real estate back home. This program fills that investment gap. It establishes a safe channel through which the African diaspora can participate in the economic development of their home countries.
This regulatory support provides Kinvi with the necessary tools to market out investment opportunities to diaspora members, and remain compliant with securities law. Since its beta launch last year, the platform has already processed more than $500,000 in transactions. This is certainly an impressive number and an indicator of high enthusiasm from the community.
Kinvi’s vision for Borderless goes beyond financial returns. He speaks about the connection to identity and heritage. “Most Africans in the diaspora want to go back home someday. To do that, they need a way to invest securely and confidently at scale. That’s what we’re building,” Kinvi stated.
The platform provides essential backend infrastructure for diaspora collectives, enabling them to onboard members, accept cross-border payments, and deploy capital securely. This flexibility is incredibly important for building confidence and alignment of purpose among investors ready to engage with projects within their own countries.
Borderless focuses primarily on two asset classes: startups and real estate. The minimum investments are $1,000 for startups and $5,000 for purchases of property. Kinvi sees growth into sectors like film and diaspora bonds as the platform matures.
Since its inception, collectives on Borderless have successfully backed more than ten startups and two real estate projects in Kenya. This accomplishment showcases what the platform could do by mobilizing relatively large sums of resources from the diaspora to jumpstart local entrepreneurship and development.
Kinvi was previously instrumental in leadership roles at Stripe and Paystack. He drew on his experience building innovative communities in product and growth roles to build Borderless. While Kinvi was at Touchtech Payments, a startup that Stripe ultimately acquired, Kinvi’s equity converted into Stripe shares. That provided him the capital cushion he required to bootstrap his side project. Kinvi created a platform known as Hoaq, which aggregated investments by local and diasporan angels into African startups.
With more than 100 communities already on Borderless’ waitlist, it’s clear that there is a huge demand for these kinds of investment opportunities. Kinvi thinks there’s a big opportunity to leverage the estimated $30 billion in migrant remittances. This cash goes unused year after year, just begging to be freed up.
“The diaspora sends billions of dollars in remittances, but very little of it goes into productive assets,” Kinvi remarked. This declaration highlights his dedication to turning remittances into real investment opportunities that can produce lasting returns for African economies.
Borderless is tackling the barriers that would-be investors are hitting, too. Kinvi recounts a poignant example: “Someone I know sent €200,000 home to build a house. The house was never built.” These experiences stoked his desire to create a tool that would help ensure transparency and accountability in the investment process.
Borderless’s impact isn’t limited to the diaspora. It further advantages people in Africa by giving them more access to patients’ money and more investment opportunities. Through their customizable and collaborative investments, Kinvi strives to equip communities with the ability to make decisions for themselves and their financial future.
