Google Startups Accelerator Africa

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Google Startups Accelerator Africa 2020: Here are the two SA startups selected for Class 5

Google for Startups Accelerator Africa — previously known as Google Launchpad Accelerator Africa — announced the two startups who would be moving forward to Class 5 of 2020.

Google Startups Accelerator Africa

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This year’s Startups Accelerator Africa will take place online, as a combined class of 20 startups from all over Africa. Under the Launchpad flag, two classes were held per year. Two South African startups made the cut for this year’s accelerator.

Google Startups Accelerator Africa 2020

Schedule for 2020

The accelerator program for 2020 will run for the usual three months from 29 June until 11 September 2010. In addition, one week per month will be set aside for the “Virtual Bootcamp”.

For Google for Startups Accelerator Africa 2020, startups were chosen from Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tunisia and Zimbabwe. Yep, two South African startups are moving forward to Class 5!

The South African startups are fintech platform Franc, and media startup Beamm. The 20 startups “cut across an array of industries including logistics, transportation, education, agriculture, e-commerce, media, health and professional services”.

South African startups

Beamm

Beamm allows users to make Hollywood style CGI and VFX videos with ease. With Beamm’s mobile VFZ workflow, independent content creators and productions now have the ability to create high quality, photorealistic, visual effects for their projects at a low cost.

Franc

Franc.app is a fintech investment app that helps first-time investors realise their dreams by providing access to the best cash and equity funds without minimums or restrictions.

List of selected startups

Apart from Beamm and Franc, these 18 selected startups were also selected for Class 5 in Google’s Startups Accelerator Africa.

Nigeria

Credpal: CredPal develops consumer credit infrastructure to ease consumer credit purchases, and enable retail businesses to provide on-demand credit for consumers in Africa.

Crop2Cash: Crop2Cash is an offline accessible platform for farmers, making it possible for them to pay, get paid, and access agricultural credit via USSD while assuring financial institutions of their lending capital.

Curacel: Curacel is a Claims and Fraud Detection Platform for African insurers.

Festival Coin: Festival Coins is a suite of tools to help event organisers produce better events, with features including online ticketing, access control, cashless payments, and event reporting.

Judy: The smart, comprehensive database of African case law and legislation.

Send: Digital freight forwarder and customs broker for Africa.

Stears: Stears is a trusted provider of high-quality African information that improves decision-making.

The Smarthub: A platform to build and develop smart ideas for social impact, scalability and investment.

Kenya

AmiTruck: Amitruck is a digital platform that seeks to bring trust, transparency and efficiency to logistics by using technology to connect cargo owners and transporters.

BuuPass: BuuPass works with transport operators to provide digital solutions that seamlessly facilitate convenient and reliable movement of commuters. 

Crediation: Crediation empowers tech startups to lend to their customers. It provides APIs and a dashboard to allow its partners to access funds for lending and process loans.

Ilara: Ilara Health brings essential diagnostic support and impactful software products to patients and providers across peri-urban sub-Saharan Africa, who currently are unable to access these basic life-saving tools.

Uzapoint: UzaPoint is an enterprise resource planning tool that enhances the efficiency, profitability and business intelligence of small scale businesses in retail.

Zuka Data Science A blended learning platform with engaging data science programs designed by experts to enable individuals and organisations at all levels become data fluent.

Ghana

Adi+Bolga: Adi+Bolga uses technology to provide virtual skincare consultations and accurate, personalised product recommendations to consumers.

Tunisia

Kaoun: Kaoun enables unbanked and underbanked individuals and businesses to access financial services through identification, payment and credit solutions.

Zimbabwe

Thumeza: A next-generation logistics platform utilising data in order to optimise the logistics function for enterprises.

Ethiopia

Zayride: Zayride provides reliable, timely, and safe cab services using technologically enabled dispatch systems and integrated mobile money systems for payment. 

What is Startups Accelerator Africa

Launchpad Accelerator Africa (as it was then known) was first announced in 2017 and launched in 2018. Since then, the programme has partnered with nearly 50 startups and have raised millions of dollars in investments to create over 300 jobs.

According to Google, the selected startups receive working space, as well as access to expert advisers from Google, Silicon Valley, and Africa. Travel and PR support will be included during the programme.

Also read — 11 online start-ups in South Africa that are making waves on the internet