12 African Tech Startups to Feature in 3rd Google Launchpad Africa Accelerator

12 African tech startups will feature in the third google launchpad Africa accelerator programme – a three-month mentorship and tech support initiative that connects startups from around the world including Google staff, methodologies, market leaders, technologies and networks, from over 40 countries.

The 12 companies are from six tech driven African countries namely; Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Senegal, Egypt and Uganda. From the participating countries, Kenya has the highest representation of four startups, with Nigeria following closely behind with three.

According to a report from Business Today, the selected startups will receive three months intense mentorship and support from Google, access to Google engineers, three weeks all-expenses-paid training at Launchpad Accelerator Africa (Lagos and Nairobi), Cloud and Firebase Credits, resources and mentors during and after the programme and inclusion in the Launchpad Accelerator Global Community and network of alumni and mentors.

Also Read: Google launches free Wifi service in Nigeria

Google’s head of Startup Success and Services, Launchpad Africa Fola Olatunji-David, said, “These companies will join other startups in the Launchpad programme, present and past, that are using technology to create a positive impact on key industries in their region. We look forward to supporting and connecting them with startup ecosystems around the world.”

Out of the startups selected, six have female co-founders and nine are either AI-enabled.

The 12 startups are:

• 54Gene (Nigeria): Improves drug discovery by researching multiple genetically diverse African populations.
• Data Integrated Limited (Kenya): Automates and digitises SME payments, connecting the street to high finance.
• Me (Egypt): Connects patients to credible nutritionists and dietitians online to help them maintain a healthy and optimal weight.
• Kwara (Kenya): Provides a rich digital banking platform to established fair lenders such as credit unions or savings and credit cooperatives (SACCOs), with an open API to enable and accelerate their inclusion into the formal financial ecosystem.
• OkHi (Kenya): A physical addressing platform for emerging markets that is on a mission to enable the 4 billion people without a physical address to “be included”.
• PAPS (Senegal): A logistics startup with a strong client-care orientation, focused on last mile delivery in the domestic market, featuring live tracking, an intelligent address system and automatic dispatch.
• ScholarX (Nigeria): An education start-up that connects high-potential students with funding opportunities to help them advance in their studies.
• Tambua Health Inc. (Kenya): The Tambua App turns a normal smartphone into a powerful, non-invasive diagnostic tool for Tuberculosis and Pneumonia. It uses a cough sound acoustic signature, symptoms, risk factors and clinical information to come up with a diagnostic report.
• AI (South Africa): Voyc.ai’s CX Research Platform helps companies understand their customers by turning their customer research into insights, personas and customer journey maps.
• WellaHealth (Nigeria): A pharmacy marketplace for affordable high-quality disease care (such as malaria treatment) driven by artificial intelligence.
• Zelda Learning (South Africa): Provides free online career guidance for students looking to enter university and then links them to funding and study opportunities.

Launchpad Accelerator Africa since its inception in 2017, has formed an significant part of Google’s initiatives which support technologically driven entrepreneurships in Africa,

“The startups chosen, represent those using technology to create a positive impact on key industries in their region and we look forward to supporting them and connecting them with startup ecosystems around the world,” the Founder of Launchpad Accelerator, Roy Glasberg, explained in a statement.

23 startups have so far advanced from the first two Launchpad Accelerator Africa classes which has helped the participating tech companies in job creations and, collectively raise millions of dollars in funding.