The Africa Leadership Network (ALN) Ventures has selected nine startups to be inducted in its nine-month accelerator programme in South Africa in February. Each startup will receive US$20,000 and advice from sector-specific experts in investment.
ALN Ventures, powered by the African Leadership Network has designed an annual platform for a cohort of exceptional entrepreneurs selected across Africa. ALN said it has witnessed a successful application campaign, which attracted more than 275 candidates from across Africa.
Harish Subramanian ALN Ventures executive director said, “Our application campaign was a big success. We attracted highly qualified candidates from a broad range of industries, and from dozens of African countries. Our finalist pool will be the most diverse accelerator class on the continent this year. And these nine promising companies put us well on our way to launching 300 African powerhouses over the coming 15 years.”
The Selected startups are:
Banapads (Uganda) produces inexpensive sanitary napkins from locally plentiful, natural materials in Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi.
Capture (Nigeria) is a mobile payments system that harnesses the power of QR codes to make it quick and easy to safely pay without cash.
GiftedMom (Cameroon) is an SMS-based maternal health management solution for hospitals.
Learning Horizon (Nigeria) is a provider of e-learning solutions to corporates and institutions of higher learning.
Madlyn Cazalis ( Cameroon ) the first producer of locally-made, all-natural cosmetics in the country.
Medical Devices as a Service ( Nigeria) leases medical equipment to hospitals across Nigeria, and the broader West African region.
Nikweli ( Tanzania ) is a mobile-to-web job-matching platform that connects employers and job seekers for blue-collar type positions.
Stawi Foods (Kenya ) produces gluten-free banana flour as well as a variety of nutritious instant porridge flours for children and families.
Tastemakers ( USA ) is a mobile and web-based travel platform that connects millennials with hip, insider leisure experiences in Africa.
The programme begins with an intensive two-week series of workshops, speakers featuring African leading business figures speakers and other events in South Africa.
