African Startup Aya Gets Grant From Coinbase Giving

African web-based gig-platform, Aya, has received a grant from Coinbase Giving to help them with pilot training and mentoring of 50 people and help build an education system.

Aya provides a platform where the African workforce can work with organisations that know the worth of their skills and talents. It has achieved success by connecting talent and organisations and bridging the trust between them.

“We want to unleash the resilience and resourcefulness of Africans to the world, and we are leveraging innovative technology to build told that will enable African talent to be connected to the global marketplace,” says Eric Annan, founder, and CEO of Aya.

The startup assesses the needs of an organization very carefully by understanding its desired outcomes and discussing these with the founders and executive team. Pishikeni Tukura, the co-founder of Aya, says this has been instrumental to the company’s strong growth trajectory.

“We are looking to redefine how talent is matched to startups,” Pishikeni said.

“This is why we go into a startup and talk to the founders, get to know them and their vision, and assess their needs. We know what they need as we are founders ourselves. With our AI tools, we are able to discover the right people for these organisations that we believe will propel them further into their vision and success,” he added.

The workforce can truly live borderless by opening up the blockchain and crypto to Africans.

“Aya provides an opportunity to do jobs you actually enjoy while increasing your capacity to earn beyond your physical borders,” says Annan. “It also gives businesses the opportunity to access the finest talents available, vetted and trusted to get the job done. In this way, we take the pressure off founders and executives. “

While, to this date, the company has linked talent to organisations spanning three different continents, it now wants to go beyond just finding talent but nurturing it.

“There’s no shortage of talent in the world, but there is a shortage of talent with the right mindset to suit the company they are working for.” Especially when it comes to startups, which is where we are focusing. We want to do much more than just create a hiring platform like Upwork or a cryptocurrency wallet,” says Annan. “This kind of arrangement needs training, education, and mentoring.”

To fund this new training, Aya sent a proposal to Coinbase Giving. The feedback from Coinbase Giving was overwhelmingly positive, says Annan.

Interested applicants can register to participate in the program by filling out their details in the attached form. Successful applicants will undergo a rigorous vetting process as we aim to work with top early-stage African talent who are passionate. The program is set to begin at the end of September 2022.