african startup Archives - AfricaBusiness.com

5Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Startups

From Start-Up Origins to AI Innovation: Suppple unveils seeek.ai, Africa’s first conversational AI for multilingual information search & access

Born from a start-up vision to solve pressing digital challenges, Suppple has grown into an established player in the African tech landscape. With its recent provisional listing on the Luxembourg Stock Exchange, Suppple underscores its commitment to delivering innovative digital solutions tailored to Africa’s unique needs. At today’s Government Transformation Summit in London, Suppple brings its pioneering spirit and expertise to the forefront, addressing the critical topic of collaboration between dynamic tech companies and government to drive public sector innovation. Leveraging its experience rooted in start-up origins, Suppple introduces seeek.ai - a multilingual conversational AI crafted to democratise information access across the continent. “Our journey from start-up origins has s...

15Oct

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Fintech, South Africa News, Startups

THE RISE OF FINTECH INNOVATION IN SA: GOING BEYOND PAYMENTS TO TRANSFORM ACCESS AND OPPORTUNITIES FOR STARTUPS

By Annelene Dippenaar Two decades ago, a startup or small business had limited options when it came to processing transactions, with cash being the only option for many. Startups by their very nature also lacked credit histories, making it difficult to apply for finance, and leaving them vulnerable to unaffordable loans when seeking financial support to fund their business needs. Today, the picture is very different, with access to digital finance platforms, management tools, and mobile banking transforming how these businesses can operate. According to the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), digitalisation has enabled 700 million people in developing countries to gain access to formal financial services between 2011 and 2014, with 62% of adults having a bank or mobile...

10 Ventures Announced for the Africa Tech Summit Nairobi 2024 Investment Showcase

16Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, Kenya News, Startups

10 Ventures Announced for the Africa Tech Summit Nairobi 2024 Investment Showcase

Africa Tech Summit Nairobi has announced ten African tech ventures that will showcase their solutions to a diverse audience of industry experts, investors and fellow innovators on February 14th and 15th. While African startup funding declined in 2023, the investment showcase continues to foster collaborations and stimulate investment opportunities to bridge the funding gap in the ecosystem. According to data from Africa: The Big Deal, African startup funding experienced a 39 percent decline, falling to $2.9bn in 2023 from $4.6bn recorded in the previous year. The 250+ entries received from various countries across Africa, including Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, South Sudan, Malawi, Angola, Morocco, Botswana, Benin, Congo, Uganda, South Africa, Sierra Leone and more, highlight t...

Gender in Focus: Senegalese “Agripreneur” and African Development Bank AgriPitch Competition winner says digital marketing key to luxury tea startup success

6Mar

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Senegal News, Startups

Gender in Focus: Senegalese “Agripreneur” and African Development Bank AgriPitch Competition winner says digital marketing key to luxury tea startup success

Senegalese businesswoman Adja Sembene Fall said she had no choice but to launch her start-up business online because her new Contanna fair-trade tea company only had $200 to its name. “Due to [lack of] finance, it was not possible to get a physical shop. We started out in the backyard of my brother’s house. We sold our teas via social media for three years,” said Fall. She says her line of luxury brand tea products is about more than taste. Fall says Contanna teas sell a “Senegalese experience” that promotes a women-owned, 100% locally sourced and processed product based on recipes infusing family and cultural traditions. “Digitizing our buying process was really important. We [were] also able to present and adjust packaging of our product online, [to emphasize] it was premium and differ...

27Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

Female Venture Capitalists are pioneering South Africa’s Silicon Valley

By Paula Mokwena, CEO at Fireball Capital The global venture capital (VC) ecosystem is no stranger to the common challenge that female entrepreneurs face – lack of funding. Research by the World Bank shows that for every $1 invested in women, $25 goes to men in the African startup space1. This is the case across all regions and twice the burden for African women attempting to break into the ‘boys’ club’. Small strides have been made toward uplifting women in the broader tech space, and the effort that has been made can be attributed to the influx of female investors and venture capitalists into the market2. The disproportionate level of funding channelled into male-led startups might suggest that these are more lucrative investments3. However, research by BCG has shown that businesses fo...

Stellantis invests in Africar Group to create Auto24, an African used vehicle startup

7Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Republic of Côte d'Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Startups

Stellantis invests in Africar Group to create Auto24, an African used vehicle startup

Auto24, a subsidiary of Africar Group, has launched its activities in Ivory Coast. Africar Group is a class leading and multi country digital automotive marketplace across Sub-Saharan Africa. Stellantis investment aims at accelerating its used vehicle (UV) business on the buoyant African UV market. Auto24 is a faster and safer way to buy and sell used vehicles in Africa. Africar Group and Stellantis announce the launch of Auto24's activities in Abidjan, Ivory Coast. Auto24 is a direct to consumer used car company that brings new, innovative solutions ensuring transactions are conducted in a transparent and secure way. With the African population set to reach 1.7 billion by 2030 and a car-park already at 50 million units[1], Stellantis has taken a stake in Africar Group to create Auto24 an...

New carbon-neutral online shopping service launches in South Africa

15Sep

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

New carbon-neutral online shopping service launches in South Africa

With a goal to curb carbon emissions, South African startup Curbon, will make carbon-neutral online shopping possible through the launch of the country’s very first plugin created to help fight climate change. Curbon’s unique offering gives shoppers the opportunity to take direct, meaningful climate action with every online purchase. Using data from the world’s leading climate science institutions, the startup’s flagship product estimates the emissions of customers’ carts at checkout and empowers shoppers to neutralise the carbon footprint of their purchases on e-commerce stores in real-time. Dedicated to minimising the environmental impact of the entire e-commerce value chain, Curbon’s API uses the process of carbon offsetting to reduce, and ultimately neutralise, the carbon equivalen...

24Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Startups

CREATING AFRICAN SUCCESS STORIES: Harnessing the opportunities offered by accelerators to fast-track African entrepreneurs

African startups face various challenges – from raising funds to securing their first contracts. And for more than half of African startups[1], these challenges will be insurmountable. But for one startup working on the continent, a pan-African Accelerator Programme has unlocked both seed funding and long-term contracts. When Stephan Eyeson, CEO and Co-Founder of Survey54, joined Startupbootcamp AfriTech (SBC), it was the stepping stone he needed to get his company off the ground. Africa is the last market with countless opportunities for startups, and the ASIP Accelerator aims to equip entrepreneurs with the necessary skills to access this market. Startupbootcamp Afritech is the most experienced,multi-corporate-backed tech accelerator that specialises in unlocking and growing Pan-Afri...

9Dec

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Startups

AUDA-NEPAD, JICA, Afreximbank & BCG Empower Accelerator Cohort Of Five Successful East African Healthcare Companies

This is off the back of the Home-Grown Solutions (HGS) Accelerator for Pandemic Resilience, an initiative that aims to accelerate the growth of African healthcare companies to strengthen the continent’s pandemic resilience The African Union Development Agency (AUDA-NEPAD), Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) and Boston Consulting Group (BCG) held an event to congratulate 5 burgeoning start-ups who are shaping East Africa's healthcare sector and announce both a publication on healthcare entrepreneurship in Africa and the opening of applications for next year’s Accelerator cohort. H.E. Dr. Ibrahim Assane Mayaki said,” Infectious diseases remain a great threat to Africa’s aspiration to achieve its 2063 developmental blueprint: ‘‘Agenda 2...

15Nov

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Startups

AIM 2022 Launches Prizes for Startup Pitching Competition

The Annual Investment Meeting 2022 has announced prizes for Startups attending the pitching competition. The Annual Investment Meeting will serve as the premiere platform for Startups planning to scale up & expand to Dubai. The world’s renowned and leading investment platform, The Annual Investment Meeting, will be providing prizes for startups at the startup pitch competition. The initiative will support and bring numerous opportunities, facilitate growth and future developments among global startups. The next chapter of the Annual Investment Meeting will be held on 29 – 31 March 2022, under the theme “Investments in Sustainable Innovation for a Thriving Future”, and will provide a powerful platform for startups to maximize their potential, expand their network, and grow globall...