A TUPUCA, an Angolan online services and logistics management startup, is one of the projects selected for the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Program, an initiative of the MultiChoice Innovation Fund, in collaboration with the business incubator C3 (Companies Creating Change) in Dubai, which provides entrepreneurs with access to tools, technical skills and financial support for companies to develop and expand their businesses.
The startup, which today consists of an on-demand fast commerce platform and uber-type logistics aggregator that allows users to order from various suppliers and service providers, from restaurants, grocery stores and courier services, is one of 11 startups selected to present their business plans in this year's edition of the program.
According to the official statement, sent to MenosFios, the accelerator program is aimed at startups and small companies established in specific technological sectors – healthtech, agritech, fintech, edutech, circular economy and creative industries.
The MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Program consists of several stages, the first of which had the collaboration of public and private sector partners, nominating SMEs or entrepreneurs for the programme.
"There is no denying the impact African SMEs have on job creation and economic growth and what we envision, through the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Program, is to transform and expand these small companies into promising businesses. The quality of this year's candidate companies is quite high, which confirms our idea that there is enormous technological potential to be explored. For that reason, we are focusing specifically on the technology industries, which will allow us to show the growing innovation of this sector, and, it gives us the possibility to invest more and more in this area, at the same time that we give opportunities to these companies to create and develop technological solutions to the various social problems that Africa is experiencing”, said Fhulufhelo Badugela, CEO of MultiChoice Africa, quoted in the note.
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From this nomination, 29 companies were selected that had the opportunity to take an intensive course in Entrepreneurship Techniques, during the month of December 2022, in Johannesburg.
As the second stage of the program, a panel of experts selected 11 SMEs, the most promising ones, which once again participated in training, this time in Lusaka. The next step will be to present the projects to potential international investors in Dubai.
Here are the other 10 projects selected for the program.
Taskmoby (Ethiopia) is the first digital marketplace in Ethiopia that connects customers with qualified home service providers (eg plumbers, cleaners, electricians) using a mobile app, SMS/USSD solutions and a specialized call center.
starnews Mobile (Ivory Coast) is a pan-African medium technology company whose mission is to give financial freedom to African creators to distribute and monetize their digital content worldwide.
Having (Ghana) is a social commerce platform that allows anyone to sell online with zero capital.
Zuri Health (Kenya) is a virtual hospital (Super Health App) offering accessible and cost-effective healthcare services to patients across sub-Saharan Africa via mobile app, website, WhatsApp bot and SMS service. Through the App, patients can talk to and consult doctors, buy medicines at pharmacies, schedule analyzes and diagnostic tests and even receive a visit from a doctor at home.
Dojah Inc (Nigeria) is an end-to-end identity verification and compliance framework for building trust, credibility and compliance in digital business.
Crop2Cash (Nigeria) At Crop2Cash, we have created a digital financial service that allows smallholder farmers anywhere in Nigeria to open a bank account on their mobile phones in less than 2 minutes, without the need for internet.
MaTontine (Senegal) is a digital financial services platform. We digitize traditional African savings groups to provide access to financial services to financially excluded women in Africa.
Botlhale AI (South Africa) builds Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools for African languages. Developers and organizations can integrate any of these tools into their solutions through APIs.
Gradesmatch (South Africa) helps students (and families) make the transition from education to economic opportunity by making the journey as seamless as possible. The company builds the core infrastructure that simplifies the journey from education to economic opportunity.
Mighty Finance Solution (Zambia) provides SMEs in emerging markets with financial and credit solutions, integrated using artificial intelligence. The company uses proprietary credit scoring algorithm to pave the way for a unique lending experience and transform lives by providing simple, fast and affordable loans.
