Emerging market, US mobile service company Kirusa recently announced the acquisition of Saya, a Ghana-based mobile messaging app company focusing on the African market. In an official statement, Kirusa notes that it’s now in charge of Saya’s technology, intellectual property, and workforce.
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With a focus on high-growth markets in from Southeast Asia to Sub-Saharan Africa, Saya’s been responsible for cheap mobile messaging to people who do not have smartphones in emerging economies. While used in over 35 countries worldwide, Saya’s biggest user base is located in Ghana, Nigeria and Kenya.
“Africa remains a top priority for our business,” says Inderpal Singh Mumick, CEO of Kirusa. “While there has been astonishing progress of the mobile industry, the biggest impact of mobile in Africa is yet to come. We believe there are advantages to building products specifically for this region and have made the strategic decision to acquire Saya in line with that thinking.”
Based on highly scalable backend architecture, Saya includes social network integration, location-based and group chat across multiple phone platforms including J2ME, Android and iOS.
“Kirusa has unparalleled reach and scale in the emerging markets where its voice and social media services are enjoyed by millions,” says Neal Hansch, Managing Director of the MEST Incubator program in West Africa of which Saya was a part of.
