Tech innovators selected for SBC AfriTech accelerator

Top startups

The top 11 startups chosen for the SBC AfriTech 2019 cohort are (in no particular order):

• Databotics (South Africa) incorporates Robotics Process Automation, giving customers a streamlined solution geared towards generating value for their client base with the least amount of operational effort.

• Rentoza (South Africa) leverages the sharing economy to enable businesses and individuals to list their lazy assets whilst giving customers access to these via a low-cost rental model backed by insurance underwritten by Old Mutual Insure.

• Snapslip Holdings (South Africa) is a digital receipting and analytics application that takes data from each receipt and produces spend, trend and predictive analytics for retailers, banks insurance companies and manufacturers to increase their revenue streams.

• Asilimia (Kenya) digitises payments for small businesses to enable them to access formal financial services.

• Weego (Morocco) is a user-based transport app that helps communities in emergent and developing countries commute, with real-time updates of bus, train and metro arrivals.

• HouseAfrica Blockchain (Nigeria) enables all Africans to participate in the real estate investment marketplace. In addition to solving housing deficits, it allows users to profit from sales, rentals or capital appreciation.

• Curacel Systems (Nigeria) provides intelligent fraud detection and claim fast-tracking technology for African health insurers.

• Yobante Express (Senegal) connects drivers with users, allowing anyone who owns a means of transportation to make money when providing shipping services.

• Cinnamon Clubs (Uganda) improves the management efficiencies of social savings clubs through automated bookkeeping, ensuring accuracy, integrity and transparency of club financial activities to members.

• Survey54 (United Kingdom) has created a mobile first platform that uses channels such as voice, bots and SMS to collect data on emerging markets and create unique and robust consumer insights.

On Monday, 12 August, the startups will return to Cape Town for the kick-off of the accelerator. Over a three-month period, they will attend masterclasses, collaborate with corporate partners, and run pilots and proofs-of-concept in order to scale their companies.

The programme will culminate in a Demo Day on Thursday, 7 November when they will showcase their refined products to a network of investors, corporate partners and industry leaders. In 2018, 1,004 applications from 73 countries were received - double the number from the 2017 inaugural launch. Now, in 2019, thanks to intensified scouting efforts, there was an 80% increase in applications from across the globe.

Twenty-two startup teams were shortlisted from the 1,900 applications accumulated. They were flown to Cape Town to pitch their businesses over two days to some of the most progressive leaders in the African innovation space, including corporate sponsors, mentors and investors. From these, the eleven elite teams were chosen. These teams have shown significantly more traction in the market than those in previous years and include mostly later-stage companies.

Nsovo Nkatingi, SBC AfriTech programme director, says, “This is the most diverse representation we have ever had with teams from seven different countries across the continent. Our corporate partners are becoming more sophisticated in their selection process and we are very excited about the potential for commercial agreements with these startups.”

Zachariah George, chief investment officer and co-founder of SBC AfriTech adds, “Every entrepreneur who told their story at the pitching sessions is trying to build a legacy that he or she might not even live to see. It is our responsibility as mentors to help empower them to live that vision. We urge founders of disruptive startups all across the world to apply for opportunities like this to build a bigger, better and bolder future for the African continent.”

SBC AfriTech is anchored and endorsed by heavyweight corporate sponsors Old Mutual, RCS, BNP Paribas Personal Finance, Nedbank and PwC. The programme also has local service partners Brevity Law, Cloudworx, Inner City Ideas Cartel, VC4A The Loudhailer and most recently, Dentons, and is globally supported by Amazon Web Services.