Pangea has made public the list of 11 startups who will be eligible for $50,000 funding.
Kenya takes the lion’s share of the number of startups featured on that list. There are 9 startups from Kenya, 1 from Egypt, and 1 from Nigeria.
The judges in the selection panel who selected these 11 startups consists of experts from the Mastercard Foundation, Innovation Norway, BDO EA, and Longitude Finance. The judges commented that the selection process was quite rigorous.
“The initial expectation was that we would settle on 10 companies, but we ended up with a list of 11. This is evidence that a good number of the startups made a strong business case. We were spoilt for choice,” said Jane Ndugo, a senior market advisor at Innovation Norway.
Jonas Tesfu, the CEO of Pangea, says all the participating companies were thrilled about the fact that the local business environment in Africa, for the most part, looks attractive to investors.
“I have no doubt that investors will find good opportunities for investment based on the quality of businesses represented on the Pangea program.”
pangea in partnership with other tech companies like Liquid Telecom and @iBizAfrica has been running an acceleration program for 40 startups with the aim of providing milestone-based capacity building. The acceleration program run for 12 weeks.
Pangea’s partnership with Strathmore’s @iBizAfrica has seen multiple startups pass through the acceleration programs and get matched by to prominent business and innovation experts from a wide array of business and innovation spaces. Liquid Telecom offers the startups the technical expertise and mentorship from experts like the company’s CTO, Ben Roberts. Microsoft provides the startups with free Microsoft Azure access.
The 11 Startups shortlisted for the Pangaea acceleration programs
Biasharabot – A business tool that handles customers queries, enable them shop, and checkout in a simple process. It also manages digital marketing for businesses.
SaveKubwa – Helps motorists in getting the best motor insurance in town. Insurance companies come onto the platform and display their various insurance covers offering alongside the full T&Cs, the number of policies they have sold, and set up a motor policy using a proprietary policy generator.
Sure Corporation – This startup runs a Safiri Express a digital platform that is reliable, affordable, and convenient for holidaymakers and tourists to pre-book their shuttle services in Nairobi.
Usalama – This app connects users to emergency service providers like the ambulance, firefighters, police, and road-side assistance. It calls you help in a quick and efficient manner. It uses real-time data to identify the user location and is integrated with a web-based backend portal.
Lakeview Fisheries – This startup has created a micro-franchise network of fish vendors deployed across LVF’s 500 locations around Nairobi. It has a cold chain solution, which is easily portable and considers ‘less-than-perfect’ instances of when there is no electricity.
HelpMum – A maternal health solution that uses mobile technology and low-cost innovation to address infant and maternal death in Africa.
Skolera – It provides an online tool that help stakeholders in a students learning progress collaborate, assess, distribute resources, communicate, monitor, supervise, and report on the learners’ progress.
Yusudi – A learning program geared toward arming users with life skills that will enable them to grow their careers as employees or entrepreneurs.
Onesha – An online marketplace for best creatives from across the continent, where they can display their work and have their service up for hire by anyone looking for creative works within a specified budget.
Acacia Innovation – They create biomass briquettes, which they then supply to schools and small businesses. The startup has also come up with an innovative ‘cookstove + briquette subscription model.’
Tozzaplus – A cloud-based business management tool suited for small businesses. The tool integrates accounting, invoicing, payouts, payrolls, and CRM modules in one package.
Come June 2018, Pangea plans to launch a crowd investment platform geared at further accelerating the startup towards securing funding. When the program goes live, startups undergoing the incubation and acceleration program at Pangea will have even better opportunities to meet with potential investors.
Having been founded by the Africans in the diaspora, Pangea aims at investing in startups across the continent via crowd investment platform.