Two African startups — Nigerian drone manufacturing startup Arone and Ugandan based solar-powered motorcycles provider Zembo — are among eight companies that have been selected for the third cohort of the MAN Impact Accelerator.
The accelerator — which works with startups in the field of mobility, transport and logistics to tackle social and environmental challenges — is an initiative of German’s MAN Truck and Bus and non-profit Yunus Social Business.
Applications for the third cohort opened in August and closed on 1 October. The eight were selected from about 300 applications from over 40 counties. The programme kicks off next month.
Nigerian startup Arone claims to be building Africa’s biggest aerial logistics infrastructure for health care. By using smart drones, the startup can provide quick, affordable and reliable delivery of blood and medical supplies to the most remote villages in under 15 minutes. The startup was founded in March last year by Emmanuel Ezenwere
Zembo provides affordable electric motorcycles for motorcycle taxi drivers in Africa. The company assembles and leases solar-powered motorcycles on a pay-as-you-go model with the possibility of owning the asset after two years. The startup was founded in 2017 by Daniel Dreher and Etienne Saint-Sernin.
The six remaining startups that were selected include Suma, Eu Vo and Nina from Brazil, Koiki from Spain, Addressya from Sweden, and XYT from France.
Arunima Singh, accelerator programme lead from Yunus Social Business said in a statement that the founders who have been chosen to be a part of the MAN Impact Accelerator embody an opportunity to harness the power of business to impact people’s lives in many different geographies.
“At Yunus Social Business, we believe in the power of business to end poverty. A social business is a for-profit company with a social mission at its core 100% dedicated to solving human problems,” said Singh.
The accelerator said in the same statement that in the previous programme, participants have on average doubled their revenues and increased their impact by four times over the course of the programme.
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Not bad.