Startupbootcamp AfriTech, a leading accelerator program for African tech startups, successfully concluded its highly anticipated ASIP Accelerator Demo Day event in Dakar, Senegal. The event, which took place alongside the AfricArena Summit, showcased the remarkable progress and cutting-edge innovations of the program’s latest cohort of entrepreneurs.
Tomi Davies, the Founding President of the Africa Business Angel Network, gave the keynote speech and Demo Day was also attended by other industry leaders, investors, and key stakeholders in the African tech ecosystem. The event marked the culmination of an intense three-month acceleration program during which the startups received mentorship, guidance, and access to a vast network of experts and investors.
“The top 11 of ASIP Cohort 3 are impressive, Telecel Group is proud to be part of their journey to scale and expand their businesses, these startups are the future of the continent, tackling the local challenges and finding innovatively disruptive ways to solve them. We look forward to working together to expand this ecosystem and to identify more synergies between Telecel entities and the group of the 30 startups that have graduated the program so far,” said Eleanor Azar, Executive Deputy of Telecel and ASIP Director.
The ASIP Accelerator Program is funded by its founding partner Telecel Group and other key partners, notably the Senegalese government through DER/FJ and Enrich in Africa, a three-year project funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program. The Program is also supported by the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank (FMO) through MASSIF, the financial inclusion fund FMO manages on behalf of the Dutch government, AWS, Google for Startups, and Firstbase.
The Demo Day witnessed an impressive display of entrepreneurial talent, as the startups presented their innovative products and services to a captivated audience. The diverse range of sectors represented included FinTech, AgriTech, HealthTech, Climate-Tech, and more, showcasing the immense potential for growth and impact within the African tech landscape.
Speaking about the event, Henry Ojuor, Program Director of Startupbootcamp AfriTech, expressed great pride in the achievements of the participating startups. “Today we witnessed the future of Africa. We saw startups solving some of the biggest problems in Africa, disrupting entire industries. We saw startups poised to change the world. But what we’re most proud of by far is how deeply this cohort has engaged in the local ecosystem. A staggering 90% of the startups you’ve just seen are actively operating in Senegal, and they did all this while creating over 9000 jobs and putting women at the center of their work. It’s a record-breaking cohort!”
The Demo Day also provided a platform for startups to engage with potential investors and forge strategic partnerships. Renowned venture capitalists, angel investors, and corporate partners actively participated in the event, demonstrating their commitment to supporting and nurturing African startups.
The startups stood out with their groundbreaking solutions aimed at solving the most challenging issues Africa faces. Their presentations generated significant interest from investors, and the startups are now poised to accelerate their growth with the support of key industry players.
Senegalese social selling startup Yoonema announced a new partnership with fellow SBC AfriTech Alumni, Yobante Express, to provide seamless logistics between the sellers, and the clients.
“This collaboration has allowed us to expand our network to over 400 new social sellers who are now onboarding into our platform,” noted CEO Mame Fatou Ba.
Nigerian mobility company Parkwell also partnered with 2019 alumni Curacel to help give their customers peace of mind. “We are building the Airbnb for parking in Africa,” says founder Philip Ogunaike. “Our new distribution partnerships with two major players in the mobility space – Interswitch and Touch and Pay gives us access to their user base of over 15 million people.”
“We’ve made incredible progress during the cohort,” says SafeTrack CEO Mahir Chekkoury Idrissi. The Morrocan startup announced a partnership with the association of citrus producers in Berkane, Morocco, and pilots with the directorate of horticulture and Senegal’s Ministry of Agriculture.
PharmaServ, a Nigerian company that provides offline-capable distribution management software for medical suppliers also made tremendous progress. “We are currently finalizing negotiations with a public listed company that plans to implement our system across their sales unit of 200 agents in Nigeria,” announced CEO Emeka Anyaorah.
In the logistics sector, Jand2Gidi which rebranded to CargoPlug during the program made strides in its mission to provide a seamless and trackable logistics solution that eliminates uncertainty and reduces transit times for shipping across Africa. “We recently launched a Shopify plug-in that gives 1.7million sellers across the world access to a seamless shipping solution to Africa consumers”, announced the COO of the Nigerian startup Ujama Akpata.
“In order to offer the best prices to our customers, we are excited to announce our partnership with Nestle, the leading FMCG brand in Mali,” announced Sodishop CEO Boubacar Biro Balde. The startup’s interconnected marketplace offers a major opportunity to thousands of sellers across Mali, Guinea, Senegal, and Ivory Coast through value-added services such as Email & SMS marketing and Express Delivery.
Ghanaian climate tech BD Waste continues to transform how communities perceive waste. “We have started pilot projects in 3 communities in Dakar that are recognized as some of the most heavily polluted areas in the country,” says CEO Emmanuel Danso. “Based on our initial assessments, we can collect 40 tons per month, and reduce the rubbish on the ground by 90%.”
This is a great feat in the company’s endeavor to enable a connected waste management and recycling ecosystem through technology.
Chestify, also hailing from Ghana is currently finalizing a partnership with Checkup Labs in Kenya to report their medical images. “They currently process more than 6 000 medical images per month, and we will be reducing their turnaround time by 80%,” says CEO Mustapha Zaidan. “We are also excited to announce that on June 25th, we will start deploying Chestify into dozens of UNICEF partner hospitals across rural Ghana,” he added. The company pivoted during the ASIP Accelerator and is committed to connecting healthcare facilities to their system to collect CT scans, X-rays, MRIs, and pathology reports.
When Ivorian startup Moja Ride joined the cohort, they were well on their way to creating a financial solution for taxi drivers who are often denied car loans because banks deem them too risky. They launched Sobridge, an entity that offers a drive to own solutions to these unbanked drivers. They review drivers’ historical revenues to show financial institutions that these drivers are not a credit risk. “We drastically reduce the risk of default through our pay-to-use model along with our ability to collect payments directly from the customer fare, says co-founder Michelle Allade. Sobridge recently finalized a partnership with Yango, the leading Ride-Hailing company in francophone Africa, and announced a partnership with the City of Parcelles to fund a new fleet of 100 Klando cars.
Kenyan fintech built for Gen Z, Kyanda also made incredible strides during their time in the ASIP Program. They expanded into South Africa and have rolled out and are finalizing details on partnerships that will make Kyanda available at more than 20,000 Spaza shops. “With our interoperable wallet as a service, we’re making payments and transactions seamless across the African continent,” said Senior Tech Lead Victor Muriithi confidently.
In just two months of being in the cohort, Ivorian startup Limawa was able to secure a pilot with Auchan which will generate $90k in revenue this year. CEO Seydina Issa Seck and his team provide solar refrigeration solutions that transform the way food is preserved and transported. ASIP powered by ”Startupbootcamp AfriTech gave us an incredible opportunity to transform our business model from simply building solar coolers for clients”, he says. Today, Limawa makes revenue through short and long-term rental models.
ASIP powered by Startupbootcamp AfriTech is committed to empowering African startups and driving innovation on the continent. By connecting startups with a global network of mentors, investors, and corporate partners, the program plays a crucial role in fostering entrepreneurship and catalyzing sustainable growth in the African tech ecosystem. Applications for Cohort 4 will open in the next few months.
The success of the Demo Day in Dakar highlights the vibrant startup culture in Senegal and showcases the city as a burgeoning hub for tech innovation. With its strategic location, supportive ecosystem, and talented pool of entrepreneurs, Dakar is poised to become a key player in the African tech revolution.
About Africa Startup Initiative
ASIP is a program founded by Moh Damush, Telecel Group CEO as a CSR activity. ASI Program contributes in a meaningful way to the African Continent to support young startups whose innovative ideas are creating a difference in their communities, exposing them to international organizations, and bridging the knowledge and expertise to allow them to attract partners that can add value to their startups. For more information on the ASIP, visit www.asiprogram.com
About Startupbootcamp AfriTech
Startupbootcamp AfriTech was launched in 2017 as the first multi-corporate-backed pan-African startup accelerator. We run world-class accelerator programs, working with some of the most disruptive startups on the continent. We provide access to our global network of corporate partners, investors, and mentors. The SBC AfriTech portfolio currently has 60 African startups spanning 13 countries and operating in sectors that include FinTech, InsureTech, Logistics, Mobility, AgriTech, and Digital Health.
With our support, 95% of SBC AfriTech alumni are still operational 2+ years after the program, and they have an aggregate valuation of nearly $1 Billion, and 22% have female co-founders.
For more information visit: http://bit.ly/sbcafritech
About Telecel Group
Telecel Group operates in four different lines of business all under the telecom industry: (1) Telecel Mobile, owns and operates several mobile operators in Africa and Europe; (2) Telecel Global Services, provides wholesale, enterprise, and digital security services to telecom operators and enterprises worldwide; (3) Telecel Play, a digital platform that is digitizing mobile users; and (4) Africa Startup Initiative Program supports innovative startups in Africa and offers them funding and guidance to scale and For more information on the Telecel Group program, visit http://telecelgroup.com
About Der/FJ
Der/FJ is an institution under the authority of the Presidency of the Republic of Senegal and it was launched by President Macky Sall in 2018 in order to support entrepreneurs throughout Senegal. This support is given through both financial and non-financial services, with an emphasis on sectors that include technology and innovation, hence the creation of the D-hub incubator. For more information about DER/FJ visit https://der.sn/
About FMO
FMO is the Dutch Entrepreneurial Development Bank. As a leading impact investor, FMO supports sustainable private sector growth in developing countries and emerging markets by investing in ambitious projects and entrepreneurs. FMO believes that a strong private sector leads to economic and social development and has a close to 50-year proven track record of empowering people to employ their skills and improve their quality of life. FMO focuses on three sectors that have a high development impact: financial institutions, energy, and agribusiness, food & water. With a committed portfolio of EUR 9.3 billion spanning over 85 countries, FMO is one of the larger bilateral private sector development banks globally. For more information: please visit www.fmo.nl
About ENRICH in Africa
ENRICH in Africa is a three-year project funded under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme designed to bring together core stakeholders from Africa and Europe in order to support and strengthen the European and African innovation ecosystem. Its main goals are to provide capacity upgrading and support to incubators and accelerators across both regions and facilitate the growth of ideas and successful outcomes by building a strong community with a foundation in the delivery of quality services. After the project ends, activities and services will be continued by the ENRICH in Africa Centre, which has recently been launched. For more information: please visit www.enrichinafrica.com
