Most startups don’t know what they’re becoming at the start, and Cognito Systems is a textbook example. What began as Six Labs has quietly evolved into something much bigger, with ambitions now stretching beyond crypto into artificial intelligence.
Moore Dagogo-Hart, founder and CEO of Cognito Systems, tells Techpoint Africa that the turning point came after Zap Africa — built on Six Labs’ infrastructure — scaled past 50,000 users and raised $500,000. A surge of 10,000 users in a single day in January made one thing clear: the company had outgrown its original identity. Six Labs was no longer just experimenting; it had learned scale, systems, and what it really wanted to build.
Dagogo-Hart’s founder journey didn’t start in Lagos or Nairobi but at Goldman Sachs. After leaving the investment bank in 2021, he knew he wanted to build in crypto but didn’t yet know how. His first startup, Solarsoft, and its product, Nebula Wallet, struggled after Apple pulled the app and the crypto market crashed in 2022. Rather than returning to corporate life, he doubled down, joining forces to build Zap Africa, which eventually led to Six Labs and, later, Cognito Systems.
Today, Cognito Systems positions itself as an infrastructure company building AI and blockchain systems for businesses. Its goal is simple: automate inefficient processes and provide tools that work across teams, from customer support to finance. On the blockchain side, it focuses on security and transparency; on the AI side, it’s about scale. Its standout product, Martha AI, is an AI-powered customer support system designed to help businesses respond faster without burning out human teams.
Dagogo-Hart’s ambition is clear: ensure Africa isn’t just consuming global AI tools but building them. For a deeper look at how Cognito Systems is driving this vision, check out Sarah’s latest feature for Techpoint Africa.
