Blume

Rumwell Mabundza , South Africa

In March 2016, Rumwell cofounded Blume, a social impact business that provides a digital platform connecting formal and informal service providers to customers. The informal service industry in South Africa is large, but it can be difficult for customers to know which service providers to trust. Blume plans to solve this problem by compiling a register of trusted providers for a range of services such as plumbers, electricians and caterers. All service providers are vetted to ensure a high quality of service. Informal service providers benefit from access to a reputable platform through which they can secure new work and build up a reputation. Blume enables active participation in the informal economy, allowing individuals and small to medium enterprises to have a stable income at no cost to them. Blume currently has 230 service providers featured on the platform, and it plans to grow this to 28,000 providers over the next 24 months. They plan to expand to the major cities of Johannesburg, Pretoria, Cape Town, Durban and Pietermaritzburg, targeting populations in the higher Living Standard Measure brackets to ensure the app gains traction.