Techstars Unveils 2nd Cohort for ARM Labs Lagos Accelerator, Investing Up to $120,000 in 12 African Startups

Techstars has unveiled the second cohort of its pan-African accelerator program in collaboration with Lagos-based innovation program, ARM Labs. This initiative, known as the ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator, builds on the success of its inaugural program and reinforces its commitment to supporting entrepreneurs driving impactful change in Africa and beyond.

The 2023 cohort, meticulously selected from a pool of over a thousand applications, brings together 12 companies offering tech-enabled solutions across various verticals in Sub-Saharan Africa. The screening process, led by Oyin Solebo, the Managing Director for the accelerator, involved a screening committee comprising directors at Techstars, executive leaders at ARM (Jumoke Ogundare, Sadiq Mohammed, Wale Odutola, Uche Azubuike, and Ina Alogwu), along with seasoned investors including Nneka Eze of Vested World, Maya Horgan Famodu of Ingressive Capital, Olumide Soyombo of Voltron Capital, and Dotun Olowoporuku of Ventures Platform.

Unlike its initial focus on FinTech and PropTech in the first cohort, the ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator broadened its scope this year to include entrepreneurs leveraging technology, data, and intelligence to serve a growing population in Sub-Saharan Africa. The selected startups operate in various sectors such as FinTech, Logistics, E-commerce, HealthTech, Renewable Energy, and Future of Work. Spanning across Ghana, Nigeria, and East Africa, the cohort includes four teams with at least one female co-founder.

Over the 14-week immersive program, Techstars will invest up to $120,000 in each startup, providing access to over $400,000 in cash equivalent hosting, accounting, legal support, and additional benefits valued at more than $5 million. The startups will also receive tailored mentorship, top-notch company-building support, lifetime access to the extensive Techstars global network, and targeted interactions with potential investors to ensure a seamless flow of follow-up capital as they scale. By partnering with ARM Labs, founders will gain exposure to ARM’s local network, research, insights, and decades-long financial advisory expertise.

The selected companies are, in alphabetical order: 

• 24Seven, founded by Olufemi Idowu, is an asset-light marketplace that enables small businesses and convenience stores to order inventory on credit with one-hour doorstep delivery
• Beauty Hut leverages technology to bridge the gap between beauty brands and consumers through efficient product distribution and marketing channels, via their e-commerce web-store and mobile app. It is founded by Subuola Oyeleye
• Eight Medical, by Dr. Ibukun Tunde-Oni, is an end-to-end platform that connects users in need to emergency medical resources (such as hospitals, ambulances, personnel, information & credit), reducing waiting times from an average of 3 hours to 10 minutes or less
• GetEquity facilitates access to investment opportunities by SEC-accredited providers, reducing entry barriers through investment aggregation across various asset classes. It is founded by Jude Dike, Temitope Ekundayo and Chigozirim Ugochukwu
• JumpnPass, by Tunde Ademuyiwa and Qudus Quadry, is a mobile self-checkout platform for modern retail in Africa. They enable shoppers to use their smartphones to effortlessly scan product barcodes, pay for items, and skip long queues
• One Plan helps workers in Africa’s informal economy create affordable financial plans, making it easier to start a retirement plan, access low-interest credit, and access health + life insurance cover. It is founded by Harold Awuah-Darko.
• PBR Life Sciences offers pharmaceutical, consumer healthcare and medical device companies fast and easy access to high-quality market data and insights, helping them make objective decisions on product pricing, volumes and company strategy. The company is founded by Ayodeji Alaran
• PressOne Africa provides African businesses with deeper insights into phone conversations with customers through a communication platform that provides conversation intelligence and call monitoring. It is led by Mayowa Okegbenle, Opeyemi Shokunbi and Unoma Adeyemi
• Rana democratises access to clean and reliable solar systems for SMEs and residential customers through affordable long-term solar subscriptions, replacing the need for expensive, unreliable, and toxic backup generators. The company is founded by Abraham Mohammed and Mubarak Popoola.
• Surge Africa, founded by Kumar Shourav and Ebrahim Essop, allows individuals, micro-entrepreneurs and MSMEs in Africa to make instant cross-border transfers and pay up to 80% less in fees
• Swoove empowers logistics companies in emerging markets to digitise and scale their businesses with dispatch automation, fleet management, tracking and telematics, and a wide delivery network. It is led by Kwaku Tabiri, Kingsley Amponsah, Gloria Pascucci, Robert Quainoo and Kevin Blankson
• Veend, founded by Olufemi Olanipekun and Ebenezer Ajayi, enables individuals and businesses with verifiable income to access funds on-demand, addressing their needs for emergency funds or working capital

‘Our second cohort truly showcases, and perhaps also epitomises, the wealth of talent, innovation and ingenuity that can be found within the African tech ecosystem. Supporting this group in reaching their full potential feels like the perfect segway following the close and success of the inaugural cohort.  The current market dynamics means that founders need a combination of financial support as well as technical assistance and access to networks in order to build resilient businesses. We are glad to be able to provide comprehensive support that covers this entire spectrum.’

Oyin Solebo, Managing Director, ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator 

Apart from the program spearheaded by Techstars, the cohort benefits from mentorship sessions facilitated by distinguished experts in the African tech ecosystem. These sessions offer in-depth guidance and specialized services to assist the startups in their journey of growth. Notable experts contributing to the mentorship program include Tunde Kehinde, Founder/CEO of Lidya; Bode Abifarin, Chief Operating Officer at Flutterwave; Tingting Peng, Chief Capital & Strategy Officer at Moove; Kevin Simmons, Partner at LoftyInc; Lola Esan, Partner at EY; and Yischai Beinisch, Head of West Africa – Emerging Market Power at Shell Energy Europe & Africa.

The program will conclude with an invite-only Demo day on February 22nd, 2024 where founders will showcase their progress.