After a seven-month-long journey that saw the Seedstars World team travel through more than 25 countries on the continent, a total of 17 African startups this week participate at this year’s edition of the Seedstars Africa Summit which kicks off tomorrow (11 December).
The startups are winners of the 16 pitch events Seedstars World held across the continent and will be joined by the winner of the Seedstars Dar es Salaam event which will be held in the Tanzanian capital tonight.
At the summit, the 17 — along with three Swiss startups — will participate in a day-long growth boot camp where they will learn more about growth strategy and how to master pitching. In addition, the startups will also pitch to potential backers at an investor forum set for Wednesday (12 December).
Of the 16 winners that Seedstars World has selected as winners of its pitch events, five are in the agritech vertical, four are in fintech and two are in civic tech. The African startups attending the Seedstars Africa Summit are:
Money Farm (Agritech, Gambia): Money Farm, which was founded by CEO Modou N’jie, provides Africans in the diaspora and other investors around the world with potential agri-investment opportunities in Africa.
Franc Group (Fintech, South Africa): Founded in May by CEO Thomas Brennan, the Johannesburg-based Franc Group helps customers invest in either the money market and the stock market for only R5 per month with no minimum contribution required.
Rera (Agritech, Zimbabwe): Rera’s end-to-end farming service assists users with input procurement and production, with the startup claiming it saves users up to 40% on poultry produce.
CowTribe (Agritech, Ghana): Founded in 2015 by Awin Peter and Alima Bawah, CowTribe provides an on-demand mobile (USSD-based) subscription service which connects livestock farmers with veterinarians, and helps deliver animal vaccines and other livestock healthcare services to farmers.
BeneFactors (Fintech, Rwanda): This Kigali-based business-to-business financing company — which was founded last year by Olivia Zank and Jani Moliis — provides its clients with tailored working capital solutions in exchange for their unpaid invoices.
Agro Supply (Agritech, Uganda): Agro Supply was founded in 2016 by CEO Ogwal Joseph and enables smallholder farmers save money for agricultural inputs. In addition to helping farmers save for agricultural inputs, the startup also offers agricultural extension services and helps users to access markets for their produce.
Sudpay (Civictech, Senegal): Sudpay, which was founded in 2014 by Samba Sow, Moustapha Fall, Meissa Diop and Bamba Khouma, has developed a solution called Townpay which enables municipalities to collect more revenue by digitising the collection of local taxes.
Labes Key (Edtech, Democratic Republic of Congo): This Kinshasa-based startup has developed Schoolap, a platform that aims to improve the quality of teaching in the DRC by providing users with access to digital lessons online. In addition, the solution — which includes a school administration module as well as payments capabilities — also enables parents to monitor and track student performance and attendance.
Diool (Fintech, Cameroon) Diool enables merchants to settle transactions with their customers through its platform which allows users to manage shops, accept mobile payments and offer special deals.
Bluewave Insurance (Fintech, Kenya): This startup creates mass-market micro-insurance products that are accessible via mobile devices.
Bandim Online (Agritech, Guinea-Bissau): Bandim Online has developed a solution which aims to mitigate producer losses by getting products to market quicker and with the best prices.
WenaData (Civic tech, Mozambique): WenaData aims to make it easier to collect statistical data in Mozambique by rewarding survey and poll participants through a points and rewards system. Since its launch last year, the Maputo-based platform claims to have conducted over 270 polls and 16 surveys.
Kubinga (Mobility, Angola): Founded last year by Alan Santos, this ride-sharing service aims to address unemployment in Angola as well as tackle Angola’s expensive private transport sector.
DropQue (HR enterprise services, Nigeria): DropQue — which was founded in 2016 by CEO Opeyemi Akinwoleola and Yinka Akinbobola — uses a combination of one-way unassisted video interviews and an artificial intelligence (AI) assessment assistant to help companies to source suitable candidates.
Rema (Healthtech, Benin and Ivory Coast): Benin-based collaborative medicine service Rema — which was founded in January by CEO Sedric Degbo — enables doctors in Africa, through the Rema app, to collaborate in real-time to make better decisions.
MyFoodness (Botswana): MyFoodness is a food ordering and delivery app which has cashless payment solutions embedded in it. The startup was founded by Boi Rasmussen.
