As we step into the new year, we at CYTO are excited about the possibilities and opportunities that 2025 holds. In 2024, we laid a robust foundation, guided by our mission to empower African entrepreneurs and businesses with innovative, accessible, and efficient solutions. Now, it’s time to harness those efforts, scale up, and accelerate our impact across the continent. Let's look back at our major achievements in 2024 and share our goals for 2025, segmented into three core areas: Understanding the Market, Refining the Product, and Global Recognition.

1. Understanding the Market

Achievements in 2024

Throughout 2024, our primary objective was to gain a nuanced understanding of the needs of African entrepreneurs. This wasn’t just a surface-level exploration; we devoted thousands of hours engaging with up to 300 potential users—ranging from local artisans and diaspora entrepreneurs to large multinational corporations operating in Africa. These conversations allowed us to:

• Identify Key Pain Points: We learned firsthand about the logistical, regulatory, and financial management challenges African businesses frequently encounter.

• Prioritize Essential Features: By listening to early feedback, we confirmed the need for standardized invoicing systems, user-friendly product and HR management tools, and reliable integration with national tax authorities.

• Refine Pricing Strategies: We gained clarity on what pricing models work best for various segments of the market—from solopreneurs to large enterprises requiring enterprise-level solutions.

Equipped with these insights, we tailored our platform to address real-world business challenges. The time and resources invested in 2024 laid the groundwork for the next stage of our journey—transitioning from a testing model to a revenue-generating model.

Expectations for 2025

With a deeper understanding of our target market, we’re ready to convert our test users into paying customers. Our top priority in the first two months of 2025 is to onboard the five current testing companies as fully paying users. This milestone will be crucial in:

1. Validating Our Value Proposition: We’ll demonstrate that CYTO’s platform isn’t just convenient; it delivers tangible benefits—streamlined operations, compliant invoicing, and robust data analytics.

2. Increasing User Engagement: By bringing real client operations onto the platform, we’ll gather more in-depth feedback, allowing us to enhance and refine features quickly.

3. Scaling for Growth: Once our product’s value is confirmed through revenue generation, we’ll be poised to scale and expand to new clients and potential investors.

Our vision for 2025 is clear: prove the worth of our platform by showing that CYTO can seamlessly merge financial and operational workflows for African businesses. This will serve as a catalyst for broadening our reach across the continent.

2. Refining the Product

Achievements in 2024

Creating a platform that meets the regulatory and operational demands of African businesses required thoughtful planning and technical skill. Throughout 2024, we focused on developing and perfecting core features in-house, which allowed us to:

• Optimize Costs: By building tools internally, we saved on third-party licensing and customization fees.

• Adapt Quickly: In-house development gave us the flexibility to address user feedback as soon as it arrived.

• Launch a Proof of Concept: We successfully rolled out a proof of concept in the last quarter of 2024—one that began addressing the pressing needs of entrepreneurs in Angola and beyond.

Specific Features Developed

1. Standardized Invoicing: CYTO’s invoicing system now complies fully with Angolan regulations, ensuring businesses can generate and send professional, legally compliant invoices from day one.

2. Comprehensive Management Tools: We introduced robust modules to manage clients, products, services, operations, and HR—all tailored for single-entity businesses.

These achievements were significant steps toward the all-in-one business platform we envision for African entrepreneurs. However, our work doesn’t stop here.

If you are interested in those core benefits we are achieving for our users feel free to try our platform by scheduling a demo!

Expectations for 2025

We’re entering 2025 with a clear plan to upgrade and expand the platform’s capabilities. Our core product roadmap includes:

1. Multi-Entity Management: As many SMEs in Africa juggle multiple businesses or regional branches, we aim to simplify their administrative tasks by allowing them to oversee multiple entities simultaneously within one CYTO account.

2. Advanced Regulatory Integration: We plan to enable direct digital accounting for tax reporting to Angolan regulators. This means streamlining the submission of financial documents, cutting out labor-intensive manual processes, and reducing the risk of errors.

3. Streamlined Bank Account Opening: Securing banking services has historically been a hurdle for new or small businesses. Our vision is to open bank accounts directly through the CYTO platform, minimizing red tape and accelerating financial inclusion.

4. Exploration of New Markets: While Angola remains our home base, we’re already laying the groundwork to expand to additional African markets. Our learnings and product adaptability will be crucial as we refine the platform for different regulatory and cultural contexts across the continent.

By focusing on these areas in 2025, we aim to solidify CYTO’s position as the go-to financial and operational management platform for African entrepreneurs. Our ultimate goal is to help businesses handle the administrative tasks that often burden growth so they can focus on innovation, expansion, and value creation.

To better understand how we are rolling out our 2025 plan, feel free to check out our pitch by clicking here!

3. Global Recognition

Achievements in 2024

CYTO’s progress in 2024 did not go unnoticed. We gained both local and international recognition through:

• Meet the Toshika and CID Contests: We claimed top spots in these Angolan competitions, reinforcing the value and innovation at the core of CYTO’s platform.

• TIMBUKTOO UNDP Accelerator: From a pool of over 900 companies across the continent, CYTO was selected among the top 20 to join this unique UN initiative. This provided us with a robust network and mentorship to refine our business strategy.

• United Nations General Assembly – Unstoppable Africa Convention: We took our story to New York, presenting CYTO’s vision at the UN General Assembly. This was a rare and invaluable opportunity to interact with stakeholders shaping African development on the global stage.

These milestones were more than just feathers in our cap—they were pivotal moments that connected us with like-minded innovators, investors, and policy-makers, all united by the desire to see Africa’s entrepreneurial potential realized.

Check out our pitch at the United Nations General Assembly by clicking here!

Expectations for 2025

This year, we will build upon our global achievements by doubling down on impact-driven initiatives. Key focus areas include:

1. Scaling Our Reach: We plan to leverage our global network to introduce CYTO to new markets, forging partnerships and collaborations that can help scale our platform faster.

2. Empowering SMEs: Our goal remains to streamline financial operations for African entrepreneurs and SMEs, freeing them to innovate and grow without being bogged down by administrative hurdles.

3. Thought Leadership: We will continue participating in international forums and accelerator programs to showcase how technology can catalyze economic development in Africa, positioning CYTO as a premier business platform across the continent.

With each accolade and every step forward, we hope to inspire more entrepreneurs, governments, and investors to rally around African innovation. The CYTO story is not just ours alone—it belongs to every business we empower, every community we uplift, and every economy we help strengthen.

Conclusion: Gratitude and Excitement for 2025

As we reflect on 2024, our hearts are full of gratitude. We want to thank our dedicated team, loyal supporters, partners —everyone who has believed in CYTO’s vision. Your contributions, advice, and faith have been instrumental in our growth thus far. We’re proud of the collective progress we’ve made and even more excited for what’s on the horizon.

2025 promises to be a groundbreaking year, as we move from concept to commercial viability, refine our product into a business catalyst platform, and continue to gain global recognition that shines a light on African entrepreneurship. We look forward to celebrating these achievements with you—and to the new milestones we’ll reach together.

From all of us at CYTO: thank you for being part of our journey, and here’s to a vibrant, impactful, and collaborative 2025!

Joachim, Tamara and Thiebault.