Nairobi-based accelerator The Baobab Network has announced that it has invested in five new startups for its most recent cohort. The accelerator backs early-stage tech companies across Africa.
The new cohort includes companies in Nigeria, Kenya and Tanzania, and takes The Baobab Network’s total portfolio size to 35 with each of the new companies receiving $50,000 in funding.
The startups are:
- Medikea (Tanzania) is a patient-centric telemedicine platform that offers full patient autonomy via on-demand consultation, at-home tests and diagnostics enabling individuals to seek care conveniently, spend less money and save time.
- Vutia (Kenya) is a B2B cosmetic marketplace that seamlessly connects informal retailers of cosmetics, beauty, and personal products with top brands and suppliers.
- Tripitaca (Kenya) is a travel tech company building a Shopify-like product with embedded financing for Africa’s 26 million travel small and medium businesses. The platform enables accommodation providers to increase their revenue by improving occupancy rates, as well as providing them with an operating system and access to affordable financial services.
- Messenger (Nigeria) is a last-mile service providing end-to-end logistics and supply chain solutions for clients in cities across Nigeria.
- Swahilies (Tanzania) is an SME book-keeping platform that allows SMEs to record their transactions (sales, spending, debts) and manage their businesses as well as send and receive payments.
“We are really proud of this cohort. Each team is made of excellent executors who are trying to solve big problems within their markets. We have seen their ability to make exponential progress in a short amount of time and we think that with our support and funding, they are now ready to scale rapidly,” said Wanjiku Kimani, admissions lead at The Baobab Network.
Last year in September, the startup invested $200,000 in four other African startups.
