TechSmart Business News sponsored by the Huawei Global Developer Programme

Google this week hosted its first Google Startup Week in Lagos, which saw Google Launchpad Accelerator Africa graduates, from across Africa, pitch for funding from some of Africa & the UK’s top venture capitalists (VCs), and Launchpad Accelerator Africa class 4 graduating from the program.

Select alumni from classes 1, 2 and 3 are fresh out of a three-month Google for Startups UK Africa Immersion Programme in London. This is a 12-week immersion programme designed to bring the best of Google and the London startup ecosystem to tech companies from Africa that do not yet have a presence in the UK. 

In partnership with Launchpad Accelerator Africa, the program aims to connect high potential early-stage startups with the dedicated support of Google for Startups UK to help them take their startup to the next level.

“Every year, Africa’s economic growth continues to strengthen. Google for Startups has put its weight behind supporting the continent’s startups as they continue to build great products tackling key global social issues. This is an incredibly exciting space which is very relevant to UK ecosystem and investors,” says Marta Krupinska, head of Google for Startups UK. 

Having completed their London Immersion, Launchpad Accelerator Africa Class 1, 2 and 3 alumni met with investors from the UK and Africa during Google Startup Week in Lagos to pitch for funding to take their businesses further. 

Launchpad Accelerator Africa Class 4 graduated this week, as part of the Google Startup Week activities. Class 4 comprises 12 startups from six countries, addressing six different sectors.  

Google Startup Week also saw participants from all 4 classes get a chance to meet, engage with each other, and share their experiences for the first time.

Class 4’s startups have collectively raised $4.3m, created over 300 jobs and signed up over 110 000 users. They had collectively raised in excess of $600 000 before the programme, and have been able to use Launchpad Accelerator Africa to scale their businesses to new levels.

“We believe Africans can solve Africa’s problems,” says the programme’s head of startup success and services, Fola Olatunji-David. “In running Launchpad Accelerator Africa we specifically look to work with startups with that share this vision. Launchpad Class 4 is tackling some of Africa’s most pressing challenges, including access to financial services, education, and agriculture.”

Since Launchpad Accelerator Africa was first announced in late 2017, the programme has worked with 47 startups on their growth journey. These companies have raised millions of dollars in investments and created hundreds of jobs across the continent.

All the selected startups receive working space, and access to expert advisers from Google, Silicon Valley, and Africa. Participants also receive travel and PR support during each three-month programme.

The Class 4 startups graduating at Google Startup Week Lagos, in alphabetical order, are: 

Afara Partners (Nigeria): Afara Partners offers platforms that provide services to the financially underserved/excluded.

BrandBook (South Africa): BrandBook is a mobile app that incentivises users to take a picture of their receipts, allowing it to harvest consumer purchase behaviour across all channels.

Elewa (Kenya): Elewa is a toolkit for establishing scalable high-quality training programs within existing education- or professional institutions.

Eversend (Uganda): Eversend is a multi-currency e-wallet that allows you to exchange, spend and send money at the best possible rates. It also includes insurance, virtual debit cards, and bill payments.

OZÉ (Ghana): OZÉ brings African small businesses into the digital era, equipping their owners to make data-driven decisions to improve their performance and access capital. 

Phenomenal Technologies (Zimbabwe): Phenomenal Technologies offers low-cost field excursions for learners through virtual reality. 

REACH (Nigeria): REACH recognises, categorises and interprets transaction data from SMS and other sources, making this data available as individual financial and market insights.

Sortd (South Africa): Sortd aims to re-invent email with the world's first All-in-One productivity suite for Gmail and GSuite.

TradeBuza (Nigeria): The TradeBuza is a cloud-based web and mobile application, which digitises contract farming and trade.

Tulaa (Kenya): Tulaa is an online-to-offline marketplace for smallholder farmers in Africa.

XEND (Nigeria) : XEND allows users to make and receive payments, offline or online.

WorkPay (Kenya): WorkPay is a cloud-based employee management and payment solution using the power of mobile and biometrics.

London Immersion Africa Startups:

54gene (Nigeria) - African DNA makes up only 2% of genetic research material used in pharmaceutical research. Founded in 2019, 54gene is creating the world’s first and largest pan-African biobank. 

Fieldinsight (Nigeria) - Fieldinsight helps to collect data in a structured manner using mobile and IoT devices. It then aggregates and represents this data through visualisations to help businesses make the best decisions.

Kwara  (Kenya) - Kwara powers financial cooperatives with technology so they can meet their members needs instantly.

OkHi (Kenya) - 4 billion people across emerging markets do not have a physical address, costing economies $175bn a year. Based in Nairobi, OkHi creates digital addresses for people, which they can use (for free) to access reliable business services. 

Paps (Senegal) -  Paps is an African logistics startup focused on the last mile delivery and domestic markets, with strong client care orientation, allowing live tracking, intelligent address systems and automatic dispatch.

Piggyvest (Nigeria) - Piggyvest is an automated savings and investments platform that helps Nigerians save little amounts of money periodically, and then invest those funds for competitive returns.

PayGo Energy (Kenya) - PayGo Energy’s connected home gas meter links to a global IoT-based infrastructure for cooking gas delivery within high-density, high-demand urban communities — changing the entire cooking experience for households and unlocking access to clean cooking for a billion people.

ThankUCash (Nigeria) - ThankUCash is an analytics and rewards platform built to enable banks and businesses in Africa to acquire, reward and retain loyal customers.

Thrive Agric (Nigeria) - Thrive Agric provides farmers with access to finance, data-driven advisory and access to a market upon harvest.

Voyc (South Africa) - Voyc is on a mission to accelerate the world's transition towards customer-centricity by making it easy for companies to understand their customers.

ENDS

About Launchpad Accelerator Africa

Google’s first regionally-based startup accelerator program, Launchpad Accelerator Africa runs out of a dedicated space in Lagos. Announced in 2017, Google has committed to training 60 African startups over 3 years, representing over $3-million in equity-free support, working space, and access to expert advisers from Google, Silicon Valley, and Africa. Participants also receive travel and PR support during each three-month programme.