African startups enter acceleration program

Source: The World Bank Group

From 24-30 March 2019, entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to network and learn from leading industry experts, increase their regional visibility and network with potential corporate partners and investors.

L’Afrique Excelle is the francophone adaptation of the popular XL Africa program which seeks to foster a stronger connection between entrepreneurs in Anglophone and Francophone Africa while providing support to those from less developed digital ecosystems, particularly in fragile countries such as the Central African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Liberia, Ivory Coast, Togo and Mali.

The launch of L’Afrique Excelle coincides with several new ecosystem initiatives from the public and private sectors, including the French Development Agency’s Digital Africa initiative, the recently established Africa-focused investment funds extending their reach beyond Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa in addition to the upcoming Francophone Africa Investor Summit (FAIS), a regional West Africa event designed to convene early-stage investors, large companies, and business-supporting organizations.

L’Afrique Excelle's start-ups specialise in tech solutions for the African market designed to expand reach and access to services. These include fintech, transportation, healthcare, cleantech, data analytics and enterprise software.

Companies in the program have their products or services currently available in one or more Francophone African markets, have strong revenues, and are well-positioned for growth and cross-border expansion.

During the Mali Residency, this cohort will benefit from training, individual consultations and peer-to-peer learning, The Residency will conclude with a venture showcase at the Francophone Africa Investor Summit. Following the summit, a select 10 companies will advance to the France Residency in May 2019, where they will receive intensive training and mentoring at the camp with Sophia Business Angels, coaching by experts at Deloitte’s and Google’s offices, and get exposure to investors at the upcoming AfroBytes and VivaTech conferences to be held in Paris in May 2019. With participation from Africa’s leading investment groups, L’Afrique Excelle will help these startups attract early stage capital between US$250,000 and US$5m.

The selected startups (in no particular order) participating in the event are:

• StarNews Mobile - starnewsmobile.com (Media / Cameroon, Congo, Ivory Coast)
  
• Lifi Led - www.Lifi-Led.ci (Cleantech / Ivory Coast, Burkina Faso, CAR, Liberia, Madagascar)
  
• GiftedMom - giftedMom.co (Healthtech / Cameroon, Ivory Coast)
  
• AmA (Fintech / Senegal)
  
• Paps - paps.sn (Logistics/ Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast)
  
• LONO - www.LONOci.com (Cleantech / Ivory Coast)
  
• Tripafrique - www.TripAfrique.com (Transport / Ivory Coast)
  
• Sudpay - Sudpay.com (Fintech / Senegal, Ivory Coast, Benin, Togo, Guinea)
  
• Firefly Media - FireflyMedia.tv (Adtech, Transport / Senegal)
  
• Exportunity GBC2 - www.Exportunity.company (Fintech, Import/Export / Mauritius, Benin, Ivory Coast, Senegal, Togo)
  
• Solaris Offgrid - www.SolarisOffgrid.com (Fintech, SaaS, Solar / Benin, Burkina Faso, Senegal, Cameroon, Rwanda)
  
• SmartOne - www.SmartOne-Group.com (Big Data / Madagascar, Mauritius)
  
• Optimetriks - Optimetriks.com (Retail Technology / Mali, Senegal, Niger, Ghana, Kenya)
  
• CityTaps - www.CityTaps.org (Water & Sanitation / Niger, Senegal)
  
• MaTontine - Matontine.com/en/ (Fintech / Senegal, Ivory Coast)
  
• Diool - www.Diool.com (Fintech / Cameroon)
  
• LAfricaMobile - LAfricaMobile.com (Connectivity, SaaS, API / Senegal, Niger, Mali, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Burkina Faso)
  
• OniriQ - OniriQ.com (Cleantech, Offgrid Energy / Senegal)
  
• Ouicarry - www.Ouicarry.com (Logistics/ Senegal, Benin, Mali, Togo)
  
• Eyone - www.Eyone.net (Healthtech / Senegal, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger)