Techstars, the most active startup investor in Africa, has announced its second cohort of 12 companies to participate in its pan-African accelerator program in partnership with Lagos-based innovation program, ARM Labs.
Following a successful inaugural program, ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator, the 14-week immersive program will see Techstars invest up to a total investment of $1.4 million in cash, with each startup getting $120,000 in equity funding and over $400,000 in cash equivalent hosting, accounting for legal support, and other benefits worth more than $5 million.
ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator will build upon its commitment to helping entrepreneurs who are changing Africa and the world. The founders are also exposed to ARM’s local network, research and insights, and decades-long financial advisory expertise.
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Here is the list of 12 African startups that got into the ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator 2023 and what they do.
1. 24Seven
24Seven provides an ecosystem that serves as a launchpad for our partners (customers), enabling them to operate and scale their businesses in today’s dynamic and technology-driven environment.
24Seven, a credit-driven asset-light marketplace for small businesses, is a 3-sided marketplace that works with mom & pop grocery stores and retailers in Africa, ensuring access to inventory and delivery services by leveraging a digitized network of distributor hubs and digitally connecting orders to transporters. All while driving catalytic growth in these SMEs using inventory financing and targeted business advisory.
The startup founded by Olufemi Idowu aims to empower every African business with the use of the most advanced digital technologies across the value chain, mainly midstream, to restore the broken, flawed system that has affected food security in Africa.
2. Beauty Hut
Beauty Hut, formerly known as Skinscience Africa, is Africa’s innovative beauty distribution company, leveraging technology to make highly sought-after beauty products more accessible in Africa.
The company, which is an e-commerce site for beauty products, was founded by Subuola Oyeleye.
Visit www.beautyhutafrica.com for more information.
3. Eight Medical
Eight Medical is a 10-minute medical emergency platform founded by Dr. Ibukun Tunde-Oni. It is a network of pre-hospital care professionals that provide urgent and emergency care when it matters most. Equipped with state-of-the-art equipment, personnel, ambucycles, and ambulances to ensure international standards of service delivery are met.
Visit www.8 medical.co for more information.
4. GetEquity
GetEquity is on a mission to let the world know that a dream realizes that private capital investments can be truly democratized and accessible anywhere globally. The startup founders are Jude Dike, Temitope Ekundayo, and Chigozirim Ugochukwu. The goal is to make investing in alternative assets accessible across emerging markets.
GetEquity is a private marketplace for investors and companies to trade digital securities and assets privately and securely, the platform allows companies or enterprises to digitalize their assets and create liquidity by managing and syndicating investments.
Visit www.getequity.io for more information.
5. JumpnPass
It is a mobile self-checkout platform for modern retail in Africa, founded by Tunde Ademuyiwa and Qudus Quadry. Jump n Pass Technologies is a frictionless in-store retail platform that allows retail shoppers to avoid queuing in stores. Jump n Pass empowers shoppers to scan and pay for their shopping with their smartphones, rather than wasting time queuing at the checkout.
Visit www.jumpnpass.com for more information.
6. One Plan
Founded by Harold Awuah-Darko, One Plan is a platform that creates affordable financial plans for the informal economy. The company designed a comprehensive solution to help every person, especially people working in the informal economy: create a retirement plan, access low-interest credit, and get health and life insurance coverage.
Visit www.pbrinsight.com for more information.
7. PBR Life Sciences
Founded by Ayodeji Alaran in 2015, PBR was established to help pharmaceutical companies leverage the opportunities in these markets by offering tailored solutions that optimize commercial success and overcome the evident challenges in the region. Pharmaceutical, consumer healthcare, and medical device companies have fast and easy access to high-quality market data and insights by using PBR Life Sciences
Visit www.pbrinsight.com for more information.
8. PressOne Africa
Founded by Mayowa Okegbenle, Opeyemi Shokunbi, and Unoma Adeyemi. PressOne Africa provides African businesses with deeper insights into phone conversations with customers through a communication platform that provides conversation intelligence and call monitoring. Teams can communicate with accountability, and customers can receive the same customer service experience they get from multinationals from small businesses.
Visit www.pressone.africa for more information.
9. RANA
RANA Group is a renewable energy solution provider specializing in the design and installation of industrial-scale renewable energy solutions based on solar energy. They provide access to clean and reliable solar systems for SMEs and residential customers. The founders are Abraham Mohammed and Mubarak Popoola.
Rana sells top-quality renewable energy products from reputable manufacturers of photovoltaic modules, inverters, and batteries. They also provide technical training to develop knowledge-based, hands-on experts to deepen renewable energy penetration.
Visit www.ranaworldtech.com for more information.
10. Surge Africa
Surge enables even small entrepreneurs as well as MSMEs to pay their suppliers across other countries in Africa at much lower fees and more quickly. The founders are Kumar Shourav and Ebrahim Essop.
Cross-border transfers for individuals and small businesses with very cheap fees. Surge allows you to send money within Africa instantly at low fees and extremely competitive foreign exchange rates.
Visit www.surgeafrica.co for more information.
11. Swoove
Swoover empowers logistics companies in emerging markets to digitize and scale their businesses with dispatch automation. The founders are Kwaku Tabiri, Kingsley Amponsah, Gloria Pascucci, Robert Quainoo, and Kevin Blankson
Swoove is simplifying and improving delivery for e-commerce retailers and their customers, giving micro and small enterprises the chance to compete against bigger e-commerce players and offline retail. As a platform that aggregates logistics players with a tech-enabled approach, Swoove is driving the overall quality and standardization of third-party logistics (3PL), the professionalization of rider agencies and their riders, and overall offering more transparency about pricing and delivery times.
Visit www.swoove360.com for more information.
12. Veend
Enables individuals and businesses with verifiable income to access funds on-demand, addressing their needs for emergency funds or working capital. The founders are Olufemi Olanipekun and Ebenezer Ajayi.
Veend is not just helping people with verifiable income get funds. They are identifying viable ecosystems and embedding credit into them. This is because not everyone has a traditional source of income. And everyone should have access to credit.
In the future, you will be able to access credit as a bolt driver because your income from doing bolt can be verified and repayment can easily be obtained. Users will be able to access credit to grow their thrift business because their source of income can be verified.
Visit www.veendhq.com for more information.
