The startups were selected from 1,057 applications for the three-month programme, which is now in its third year in South Africa.
The 2026 cohort includes startups using artificial intelligence across education, financial services, legal services, healthcare, mobility, retail and supply chains.
Among them are Ambani Africa, which uses technology to help children learn African languages, and Buddy Learning, an AI tutor delivered through WhatsApp and designed for low-data connections.
Other startups include Boleka Africa, which provides financial services to underbanked adults; Kasicoach, an AI mentorship platform for township and rural youth; and Zumii, a WhatsApp-based service that sources and delivers school stationery to parents.
The cohort also includes Anvaya Legal AI, Daedalis, Dataseka, Fly n Pay Later, Muna Africa, Propela Health, Scale, Thuto and Tradeflow.
Each company will receive hands-on access to Google's cloud infrastructure and AI models, including Gemini, alongside one-on-one mentorship from Google engineers and industry experts.
The programme also provides up to R1m in equity-free funding, with Google taking no equity or programme fee.
The programme runs from 28 September to 4 December in a hybrid format, combining remote sessions with in-person work. It will conclude with a Demo Day where the founders present their businesses to investors and partners.
Kabelo Makwane, country director of Google South Africa, said the programme was aimed at supporting local founders building products for the South African market.
Google said its wider Africa accelerator has supported more than 190 startups across 17 African countries since launching in 2018. Those companies have collectively raised more than $400m (about R6.7bn) and created more than 3,500 jobs.
