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The Google for Startups Accelerator Class Six Demo Day took place virtually, with startups pitching their ideas to VCs, investors, mentors, googlers among others.
Three months ago 15 African startups were accepted into the GFSA Africa. These startups have reached the end of a phase leading to greater acceleration.
Annually, the Google for Startups Accelerator programme provides mentorship, training and technical support for Seed to Series A startups, solving some of Africa’s biggest challenges.
The programme supports both the startups and the founding team by mentoring the founders in business operations, technology and leadership. Also, the accelerator focuses on cross border collaboration, building for global impact.
After three months of intensive mentorship and training, 15 African startups representing the ingenuity and innovation evident on the continent were presented, all from across several verticals including fintech, edtech, health-tech and cybersecurity.
The uniqueness of this year’s cohort revolves around 47% of the startups being women-owned.
These companies went through three virtual high touchpoint boot camps, with over 500 hours of mentorship, business training and technology emergence to take their solutions to the next level. They were allowed to present their pitches, with the advantage of getting additional investor interest.
While some of these startups are already making traction, others are still in the process.
Summary of the startups’ pitches
The startup companies
Kiko Muuo is the founder and CEO of Angaza Elimu, an edtech startup delivering quality and relevant education, using artificial intelligence. The company leverages an adaptive learning platform and a hands-on-training in science, technology, engineering, arts, maths and entrepreneurship to ensure quality education is spread across the continent.
Chekkit, founded by Oluwatosin Adelowo and Dare Odumade, is a Software as a Service (SaaS) ensuring the authentication, tracking and tracing of consumer goods and healthcare products. Focused on the good health and well being of its users, the company creates unique identities for products, verifying the authenticity and reducing the spread and consumption of illicit goods.
Folake Owodunni and Maame Poku founded Emergency Response Africa (ERA) to connect emergency victims to first responders and hospitals. The startup is solving the issue of late medical response across Nigeria and Africa at large.
Terence Naidu, Andrei Migatchev and Jaishree Naidoo are the founders of Envisionit DEEP AI. The startup detects and highlights abnormalities across medical diagnostic images. Utilising artificial intelligence, the company democratises access to diagnostic healthcare, reducing the high burden of diseases across the African continent.
GeroCare is an eHealth startup providing medical care to the elderly. Focused on inclusion, the startup is keen on providing medical access to the underserved across Africa. Dr Ebi Ofrey, Dr Ajibola Meraiyebu and Bruce Lucas are the innovative minds behind the company.
Khula, an agritech startup leveraging digital technology to improve the efficiency of the agricultural value chain, was founded by Karidas Tshintsholo, Jackson Dyora and Matthew Piper. The startup has a goal to take advantage of the agricultural opportunities across the world, providing solutions for resilience in the sector.
Radhika Bhachu, Gianpaolo De Biase and Rogito Nyangeri founded Ndovu, a micro-investment platform providing easy access to financial markets. The startup is solving the problem of poor investment opportunities leading to a loss of purchasing power across Africa.
Founded by Joshua Koya and Tolulope Ogunjuyigbe, Nguvu Health is a preventive and corrective tech startup for mental illness. The startup is solving four main problems; lack of access to adequate mental institutions, affordability, toxic work culture and fear of stigma relating to mental health.
Lanre Alli and Adeola Alli, founders of OneHealth, a digital health pharmacy and healthcare platform leveraging technology to provide access to medicine, information and healthcare providers. The startup’s mission is to reduce the time, among other barriers, standing between patients and adequate medical care.
Hilina Damte is the brain behind PayWay Ethiopia, a startup digitising payments to ensure simplicity in the financial sector. The company is taking advantage of the untapped fintech market in Ethiopia with a population of over 100,000,000. Its product offering includes the creation of an instant, convenient and customisable checkout link, which makes it easier for merchants to accept payments from clients.
Tabiri analytics, developing an affordable, comprehensive and automated cybersecurity as a service for enterprises in underserved markets. The company leverages technology to protect organisations from cyber threats and was founded by Betsy Bevilacqua, Savannah Kadima, Edwin Kairu and Victor Kagimu.
Derrick Mungai, Felix Manford, Evans Boateng and Primerose Katena established Tendo which enables everyone across the African continent to sell online with zero capital investment. The company connects independent retailers to wholesalers who can partner online, eradicating the fear of fraud.
Cherif Redissi, Amine Troudi and Safwen Bouali came up with the idea of Third Design, a SaaS platform empowering affordable and accessible 3D for everyone who has a project to work on in that respect. The company’s product was built for users at all levels, it is free, accessible online and has no coding requirement.
Founded by Collins Uche, Sulav Singh and Eric Okemmadu, Vittas International is focused on health care SMEs, bringing transparency to the lending ecosystem. The tech-enabled financing solution for emerging markets provides loans with low-interest rates. The company is solving the problems of lack of adequate customer credit history monitoring, leading to exorbitant charges, among other issues.
Lebeko Mphelo and Thabang Wessie are the founders of Whoosh. The company offers a digital payments solution for merchants and businesses willing to expand their businesses online via a web portal or mobile application. Its online customer solutions are centred around payments including electricity bills, ticketing for events among other services.
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