Kenyan startup builds AI around mobile money and low-cost phones

Fastagger, a Kenyan startup founded by Mutembei Kariuki, Jude Mwenda and Stephanie Njerenga, builds AI models that run offline and on low-power cellphones; its first major product, Auni, a business-intelligence assistant launched in 2024 and integrated into M-Pesa's business app, has signed up about 6,000 businesses. Auni helps small businesses such as barbershops and restaurants analyze transaction data and get marketing recommendations, with some functions like reading sales statements and visualizing results running on-device without cloud queries. Fastagger has support from Google, Microsoft and Nvidia accelerator programs but still has just its three founders, and is working on adding agents that could automatically implement marketing actions.