To fast-track their growth and provide a roadmap to highlight Africa’s ‘future growth pole’, Microsoft yesterday announced seven new African startups to receive funding, technical support and mentorship
The announcement was made at the Microsoft 4Afrika Advisory Council meeting in Nairobi and was the second round of grants to be issued under the 4Afrika innovation grant programme, following the five startups selected at the beginning of 2014.
Accordingly, the seven solutions were selected based on their uniqueness and scalability among other factors.
It would be recalled that one of the goals of the Microsoft 4Afrika Initiative is to accelerate African innovation, ensuring that entrepreneurs continue to grow their businesses and solutions.
This development in turn, would create jobs, encourage skills development and grow the continent’s knowledge economy.
“The world is looking for the next growth pole and Africa is positioned to be exactly that. As investors assess industries and sectors to fund, there is a keen interest in exploring the future multinational companies that will come out of Africa.
“ These are the startups and SMEs of today, which we aim to help grow to their full potential through smart financing,” Fernando de Sousa, General Manager of Africa Initiatives at Microsoft, said.
Accordionist to him, each innovation grant winner will receive financial endowment and access to Microsoft platforms.
According to him, “We’re supporting startups that have developed their solutions beyond the idea stage. They are either in the process of acquiring their first batch of clients or well under way in expanding their existing portfolio of clients. All startups have created solutions that are addressing key sectors fuelling growth across the continent.”
Microsoft, he said would also provide each startup with one-on-one mentorship. “It is critical to provide individualised support over and above funding.
All startups have different needs, speeds at which they scale and unique market challenges that require tailored, individualised support, Fernando de Sousa, added.
In addition, to ensure the scalability of these startups, Microsoft would also connect grant winners with relevant partners to enable them commercialize their solutions.
“The Microsoft 4Afrika initiative gives startups like BookNow access to smart capital, helping startup businesses to grow without needing to relinquish control of their company or seek expensive capital,” Francis Gesora, co-founder of BookNow, said, adding that, “This helps us improve our competitive factor and achieve our scaling targets faster.”
Through Microsoft’s partnerships with accelerators and innovation hubs, including 88mph and AfriLabs, a pan-Africa hub network which launched a new Microsoft sponsored ‘Collaboration Challenge’ at DEMO Africa last week , t has been able to nurture local innovators and identify top solutions.
Accordingly, the following startups have been selected:
Ukall- Kenya: Ukall is an ICT company that automates business processes, allowing companies and businesses to run more efficiently. Their mobile application ‘Akida’ addresses the challenges of staff attendance verification.
When Francis Gesora and Michael Nguru were travelling through Tanzania, they were frustrated at not being able to get any reliable information about bus travel. They started doing some research and found that there were no solutions intended to improve efficiency around bus ticketing and operations. That’s when they created BookNow.
BookNow is a mobile system that allows Kenyan’s to buy bus tickets online. Using the system, travellers can select preferred destinations, times and bus amenities. They are sent a list of available buses, where they can view costs and seat availability and make their booking. Payments are made via mobile money or card options and the ticket is sent via SMS.
BookNow currently dispenses approximately 50 – 60 tickets daily. Going forward, Francis and Michael hope to automate all areas of bus and transport operation, making it easier for the relevant companies – who currently still run paper-based operations – to operate more efficiently.
Cojengo- East Africa: Based on the Swahili word ‘Kujenga’, Cojengo creates mobile and cloud solutions that address animal and human health issues. Their ‘VetAfrica’ app helps farmers diagnose livestock disease and share disease surveillance data.
“The innovation grant puts Cojengo in a very strong position for the future. It helps us continue to deliver innovative solutions that address global challenges.”Craig Taylor, CEO of Cojengo, said.
In 2008, Craig Taylor designed a mobile app to help rural farmers in East Africa diagnose livestock disease and capture information. What started as a university project soon turned into a business proposition, and Cojengo was born.
Based on the Swahili word ‘Kujenga’ (‘to build’), Cojengo builds mobile and cloud solutions that address animal and human health issues. Their flagship app, ‘VetAfrica’, helps rural farmers, vets and animal health workers accurately diagnose livestock disease, identify which drugs will be most effective to treat the disease and share disease surveillance data. VetAfrica is currently targeted for Kenya, Ethiopia, Uganda and Tanzania, where the majority of the population work in the agriculture industry.
Going forward, Cojengo’s goal is to change the way livestock are cared for and build a suite of health-related apps that respond to local needs. Although the company is based in Scotland, the founding team and investors are all focused on growing the business in Africa, as Cojengo aims to grow their team in Nairobi, Kampala, Addis Ababa and beyond.
MobiPay- Kenya: MobiPay facilitates commerce and trade through mobile devices in the SME, agricultural and remittance sectors.
Their AgriLife solution helps farmers access market opportunities, receive financing and get information on how best to grow, manage and market their produce.
iTaxi.ma -Morocco: iTaxi.ma is a mobile application that lets users book, track and rate taxis within Morocco. The app uses geo-location technology, allowing users to send their location and transport details to available taxi drivers in the area and track their progress.
There are currently 35 000 taxis operating in Morocco. 8 700 of these are in Casablanca and, on average, one taxi serves around 50 customers per day.
After seeing this local reliance on public transport, as well as the opportunities of location-based services, Tayeb Sbihi and Ali Echihabi decided to create iTaxi.ma a mobile application that lets users book, track and rate taxis in Morocco.
iTaxi.ma uses geo-location technology. Users send their location and transport details to available taxi drivers.
Each taxi driver, who has been vetted by and registered with iTaxi.ma, is equipped with a tablet that displays these details. Once a taxi driver confirms the pick-up, the user is sent a driver profile and is able to track the progress of the taxi on their mobile device. After being dropped off, users rate their experience.
iTaxi.ma currently offers its services to city taxis, inter-city taxis, City VIP taxis and airport transfers. Going forward, iTaxi.ma hopes to scale their business across Africa and adapt their service to other forms of transport, including goods.
AfNov -Rwanda:AfNov is a software development company. Their mobile application ‘Ikaye y’umudugudu’ allows users to report their community challenges and conflicts to government. In addition, users can track development and progress within government institutions, ensuring accountability and enhanced development.
AfNov is a software development company. Short for ‘African Innovation’, AfNov was started by 5 friends who were passionate about transforming Africa using technology. One of the company’s flagship mobile applications, ‘Ikaye y’umudugudu’, works to give a digital voice to the conflicts in remote areas of Rwanda.
Currently, when conflicts are reported in Rwanda it takes a while for the information to be collected and presented to government, by which time it is often outdated and inaccurate.
Ikaye y’umudugudu is a digital platform where users can report their community challenges and conflicts to government quickly and accurately. In addition, users can track the movement and progress within government institutions, ensuring accountability and enhanced development.
Going forward, AfNov hopes to scale their business and solutions across Africa, to influence how citizens are serviced in Africa. They also hope to build a training centre for young innovators, where they can share knowledge and technology skills.
BookNow -Kenya: BookNow is a mobile system that allows Kenyan’s to buy bus tickets online, providing secure mobile money and card payment options and enabling customers to avoid long queues.
When Francis Gesora and Michael Nguru were travelling through Tanzania, they were frustrated at not being able to get any reliable information about bus travel. They started doing some research and found that there were no solutions intended to improve efficiency around bus ticketing and operations. That’s when they created BookNow.
BookNow is a mobile system that allows Kenyan’s to buy bus tickets online. Using the system, travellers can select preferred destinations, times and bus amenities. They are sent a list of available buses, where they can view costs and seat availability and make their booking. Payments are made via mobile money or card options and the ticket is sent via SMS.
BookNow currently dispenses approximately 50 – 60 tickets daily. Going forward, Francis and Michael hope to automate all areas of bus and transport operation, making it easier for the relevant companies – who currently still run paper-based operations – to operate more efficiently.
MMINDZS-Uganda: MMINDZS develops and exploits technology and technology-driven processes for African SMEs and local businesses. One of their first solutions was a mobile money-ready accounting system for the SME.
After working as a chartered account, Francis Otim discovered that many accounting systems didn’t adequately address the unique business challenges faced by African SMEs. With a desire to help local businesses grow, he founded MMINDZ. One of their first solutions was a mobile money-ready accounting system for the SME – the first of its kind in the world.
MMINDZS develops various technology and technology-driven processes for African businesses, designed to improve efficiency. Their goal is to enable African SMEs to improve their business operations and overall competitiveness, with a broader impact on the social-economic dynamics of the African continent.
- Culled from: http://www.vanguardngr.com
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