Acumen Software Board of Directors.

Asset and resource management firm Acumen Software, which created the My Smart City platform, has acquired 25% of Cape Town-based commerce platform provider, Kinektek.

Acumen Software plans to integrate Kinektek into My Smart City as it accelerates the rollout of the service delivery management platform.

Kinektek is described as a proudly South African, black-owned Fintech business with a cloud-based, omnichannel commerce platform. The platform provides convenient and secure 24/7 self-service terminals (SST’s) in various business outlets and mobile POS devices that serve customers on the move or over the counter.

According to Acumen Kinektek’s integrative product will further enhance the My Smart City services.

Kinektek has developed services aligned to local market requirements with success enabled through automated delivery of products to customers and the augmentation of core services with additional value-adds.

With the investment in Kinektek, Acumen Software will bolster public service offerings available to users of My Smart City with value-added services (VAS) including purchasing lotto tickets, airtime, data bundles, electricity and the ability to pay Municipal accounts.

Joao Zoio, CEO of Acumen Software, said,"Kinektek is the perfect complementary technology for the My Smart City platform. It allows the two platforms to seamlessly integrate and offer customers a wide range of services with easy and secure payment options. Our vision is for smart cities to bridge the digital divide and improve service delivery from the private and public sector.”

The introduction of Kinektek's suite of Biome, Orca, and POS Device solutions scales up the digital sales capability of businesses.

Biome is a pre-certified omnichannel commerce platform for processing digital sales and service transactions. The Kinektek distribution platform will assist retailers in delivering convenience and value through unified omnichannel retail automation, reducing operating costs and complexity.

Kinektek defines its Online Retail Content Access (Orca) as a complete VAS and said it assists retailers in growing their customer base by providing lifetime value with a complete VAS delivery solution at a zero fixed cost. The company will also supply specifically designed devices to optimise functionality.

The companies say omnichannel retailing has become “the gold standard for success in the retail environment” and “provides a seamless, continuous customer experience across any device or location.”

My Smart City is currently available in Johannesburg, Cape Town, Tshwane, Ekurhuleni, Steve Tshwete and eThekwini, with plans to roll out to other municipal areas during 2022.