Bitcoin was meant to be spent like FIAT (normal cash), for buying everyday products, paying rent etc. But, it has been pretty hard to achieve this since its inception.
Until now at least, in Kenya. You can use bitcoin to buy everyday groceries in seconds just like you would with M-Pesa using the Tando mobile app. It really is a first of it’s kind and very useful one at that
I had a chat with the founders over the past week to see why they felt Tando had to exist.
Jason’s Short Bio:
I am a world-traveling, minimalism-adhering startup-entrepreneur & excessive-hyphen-user. Plus a bitcoin-cultist, in a good way!
I’ve had the great fortune to travel to all 7 continents and over 140 countries as a digital nomad, long before the term entered the zeitgeist. And I did it all while simultaneously co-founding multiple startups and notching 2 successful exits on my belt.
I emerged from a self-induced retirement in 2024 to help co-found Tando – an app that aims to hyper-bitcoinize Africa, starting in Kenya, by making Bitcoin as easy to spend as mobile money, proving to the world that Bitcoin is more than just a great Store of Value; it’s also a fantastic Medium of Exchange.
Fix the money, fix the world.
Sabina’s Short Bio:
My journey into the Bitcoin space began as the Content Manager for Bitcoin Dada, an initiative focused on educating African women about Bitcoin. My work there gave me valuable insights into the Bitcoin ecosystem, which led me to participate in the 2023 Africa Bitcoin Conference Hackathon. I was part of team Splice, that won second place for providing payment infrastructure for financial institutions and fintechs across Africa to execute real-time cross-border payments.
Inspired by the experience at Splice, I co-founded Tando. Now, I focus on revolutionizing Bitcoin’s use as a medium of exchange. With a deep passion for payment solutions and empowering communities through Bitcoin in Africa, I continue to push boundaries in the space.
Hi guys, what’s your backgrounds and what has been your careers thus far?
Jason: I’m a long-time entrepreneur and world traveler.
Sabina: My background is in supply chain management. I previously worked at Mwalimu National Sacco in the procurement department, then spent a few years freelancing. Clearly, that path didn’t stick, because now I’m deep in Bitcoin. I got into the space about three years ago, just out of curiosity. I’d heard about Bitcoin and wanted to understand it better. I ended up falling in love with what it stands for, and one opportunity led to another, eventually bringing me to where I am now, building Tando.
You could have built literally anything else, why Tando? and how did the idea come up?
Sabina: There was clearly a gap, and I experienced it firsthand. I’m a Bitcoin Dada alum from the third cohort, and after graduating, I was lucky to get a job there where I was paid in Bitcoin. It was exciting at first, but I soon couldn’t ignore the friction when it came to spending it. I kept asking myself, why isn’t there an easy way to spend Bitcoin?
Sure, there were options, mainly going through exchanges, selling Bitcoin for dollars, then converting those dollars to Kenyan shillings. But that process was tedious, expensive because of transaction fees, and often unreliable. The point is, there was no simple way to spend Bitcoin. That’s where the idea for Tando started.
My co-founder Jason and I also had started this habit of tipping waitresses and cab drivers in Bitcoin instead of fiat, trying to bring more people onto the Bitcoin standard. But after setting them up with a Lightning wallet and sending a tip, the same question always came up: “How can I spend it?” That’s when we knew we had to build the solution. We listened to what people were asking for and built exactly that.
I’m also spiritual, and I deeply believe in the idea that “there is a place that you are to fill and no one else can fill, something you are to do which no one else can do,” as Florence Scovel Shinn said. For me, that was Tando. I knew I had to build it and fill that gap.
Jason: just adding onto what Sabina said above, I just wanted to see if it was possible. It was curious if merging the two payment networks would result in a good user experience that was on-par with the native M-Pesa experience. It was an itch I had to scratch once the seed was planted.
How did you build it? (tools, time, people and resources used)
It started with a simple flow chart of the flow of funds. Then came researching various API’s (M-Pesa, currency exchange rates, Lightning). Then writing a specifications document and mocking up a UI. We then sourced a developer to put the pieces together into a MVP. Once we had the MVP working we started a Geyser.fund crowdfunding campaign to build awareness and fund the development of a production-ready version.
How did you get your first customers/users? (marketing strategies used, anything unique you had to do)
Honestly, it’s been mostly word of mouth and our socials, nothing extraordinary. We’ve learned that when you build something that truly serves people, the product naturally finds its users. There was a clear gap in the space that Tando filled, and the app’s simplicity and local touch have made people fall in love with it.
What are some challenges that you have faced and how did you overcome them?
Whenever bridging a legacy system with a new tech stack there are bound to be hurdles and hiccups along the way. But therein lies the opportunity. We get to learn about the issues first and build out a robust solution to establish ourselves as a market leader.
Financially/user acquisition-wise, how is the product doing?
We regularly process close to 300 bitcoin transactions per day, and while we don’t share total transaction volume data publicly, we can say that we have saved Tando users over 1.6M KES in transaction fees in less than a year.
What are some of your future plans with the product?
Expanding to other African countries is on our roadmap. Our mission at Tando is to accelerate Bitcoin adoption as a medium of exchange across Africa starting here in Kenya. That’s what we’re focused on building right now.
Where can people go to know more about you and your work?
Or email us at hello@tando.me
Getting personal, what does success look like to you as an individual and at what point would you say you have achieved said success?
Jason: Success is having the freedom to say yes when you want, and the ability to say no when you want. The more freedom you have, the more successful you are.
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