KaiOS Technologies Pte Ltd
Region and country of operations: International / Lower-middle-income countries
Jurisdiction of registration: Singapore
Business sector: Digital infrastructure and solutions
Date of agreement (month/year): 6/2023
Instrument: Loan
Finnfund’s financing: USD 4,500,000
Share of Finnfund’s financing: 50%
Size of project/financing: USD 9,000,000
Environmental and social category: C
Project description
KaiOS Technologies is the leading mobile operating system for smart feature phones and the third largest operating system after Android and iOS. The company has shipped over 170 million devices and has over 190 models available, including Nokia phones. With Finnfund’s investment, KaiOS can expand into new markets in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The investment is classified as a 2X Challenge eligible gender investment as it supports women to close the digital divide across lower-middle-income countries. KaiOS brings a more affordable device to the market and hosts applications and content specifically targeting women and girls.
Main development impact
KaiOS enables people with disposable income between USD 2 – 11 per day to own an internet device at a fraction of the cost of a smartphone.
Owning a smartphone is important for adopting and using mobile internet and benefiting from the life-enhancing services the internet can offer.
Greater internet access correlates directly with improved health care, education, gender equality and economic development. Boosting a developing country’s mobile internet use by 10% correlates with an average two-percentage-point increase in gross domestic product.
More information
Last updated: December 2023
