There is a powerful stereotype about the backwardness of the African continent. Yes, there are indeed a lot of problems. However, IT in Africa is developing, and very rapidly. In 2018, 146 startups from 19 countries raised $1,16 billion, according to venture capital firm Partech Africa. Cloud4Y made a small overview of the most interesting African startups and successful companies.
Agriculture
Agrix Technology
, based in YaoundΓ©, Cameroon, was founded in August 2018. The AI-powered platform aims to help African farmers fight plant pests and diseases from their sources. The technology helps detect plant diseases and offers both chemical and physical treatments as well as preventive measures. With Agrix Tech, farmers access an app on their mobile phone, scan a sample of an affected plant and then find solutions. The application provides text and voice recognition technology in local African languages, so even not very literate people can use it. Farmers living and working in remote areas without internet can use the app because Agrix Tech AI doesn't need internet to work.
AgroCenta
is an innovative online platform from Ghana that allows small farmers and farmer organizations in rural farming communities to access a broad online marketplace. AgroCenta was founded in 2015 by two former employees of the mobile operator Esoko, who wanted to simplify market access and access to finance. They understood that the lack of access to a structured market meant that small farmers were forced to sell their produce to intermediaries at "ridiculously exploitative" prices. Lack of access to finance also means that farmers will never be able to move from small-scale farming to medium farming or even grow to industrial scale.
AgroTrade and AgroPay platforms solve these two problems. AgroTrade is a comprehensive supply chain platform with small farmers at one end and large buyers at the other so they can trade directly. This ensures that farmers are paid fair prices for their goods and also allows them to sell in bulk, as buyers tend to be very large companies, from breweries to feed manufacturers.
AgroPay, a financial inclusion platform, provides any smallholder who has traded on AgroTrade with a financial (βbankβ) statement that they can use to access finance. Some financial institutions specializing in financing small farmers have used AgroPay to better understand which farmers are eligible to access credit. In a short time, according to the head of the company, it was possible to increase the income of farmers in the network by almost 25%.
farmer line
is another start-up from Ghana that provides small farmers with access to information services, products and resources to increase their income. To date, over 200 farmers have been registered. In June 000, Farmerline was one of three start-ups to win the King Baudouin African Development Award, receiving β¬2018. The company was also selected to join the Swiss multi-enterprise accelerator Kickstart, and was named the second best startup in the food industry.
Releaf
is an agro-startup from Nigeria that helps increase the sales of agricultural products through a well-established supply chain of raw materials necessary for the country's agricultural enterprises. Releaf builds trust between agribusiness stakeholders by allowing registered sellers to bid for verified contracts with buyers. The startup came out of stealth mode in August 2018, announcing that it had already screened over 600 agribusinesses and facilitated over 100 contracts. He was soon selected to join Silicon Valley's Y Combinator accelerator, resulting in $120 in funding.
Foodstuffs
WaystoCap
is a trading platform from Casablanca (Morocco), opened in 2015. The company enables African businesses to buy and sell products β allowing them to find products, inspect them, obtain financing and insurance, manage their shipments, and secure payments. The company prides itself on providing small businesses with the tools and support they need to trade locally and internationally in a short amount of time. This is the second African startup that has been selected to join Silicon Valley's Y Combinator accelerator and received $120.
Vendo.ma
is another Moroccan startup that invites users to search for goods and services in popular online and traditional stores. The company was founded in 2012 when the country started talking about e-commerce. A "smart" search engine easily determines the needs of the user and gives him the opportunity to refine his search by adding tags to his searches, set the maximum or minimum price and find stores on an interactive map. Due to the rapid growth, the startup received $265 in seed investment.
Finance
Piggybank/PiggyVest
, also known as PiggyVest (meaning piggy bank), is a financial service that helps Nigerians curb their spending habits by improving their savings culture by automating deposits (daily, weekly or monthly) to achieve a specific savings goal. The service also allows you to block funds for a certain period of time. With the help of PiggyVest, people learn how to manage their money rationally and even invest. The real problem for many Africans is that money comes down quickly and without a trace. PiggyVest helps you leave something.
Horse
(formerly Kudimoney) is a Nigerian fintech startup founded in 2016. In fact, this is a retail bank, but it works only in digital format. Almost like the domestic Tinkoff Bank and its counterparts. It is the first digital bank in Nigeria with a separate license, which sets it apart from other financial startups. Kuda is offering a savings and savings account with no monthly fees, a free debit card, and plans to offer consumer savings and P2P payments. The startup has raised $1,6 million in investments.
sun exchange
is a blockchain startup from South Africa that appeared in 2015. He was named the winner of the Blockchain Challenge hosted by the Smart Dubai Office, receiving US$1,6 million in funding. The companies have also proposed installing several 1MW solar panels on the rooftops of some of Dubai's higher education institutions. The startup aims to help people start investing in solar energy, get a stable income and promote the growth of the role of "green" technologies in different parts of the world. The platform uses the principle of crowdsale (crowd-sale), which is similar to crowdfunding, but mainly uses digital assets instead of real currency. Sun Exchange provides an opportunity to invest minimally in energy projects. It is possible to buy individual solar panels within small SPPs, and the owners of such energy sources can receive their share of the income from the sale of electricity produced.
Electrification
Zola
- a company from the city of Arusha (Tanzania), recently received the name Zola. The company operates in the solar energy sector, promoting innovative environmental technologies in poor rural areas dominated by kerosene lamps, deforestation and lack of permanent electricity supply. Startup Off Grid Electric from Tanzania is installing cheap solar panels on rooftops to generate energy in rural Africa. And the company is only asking $6 for them (the kit includes a meter, LED lights, a radio, and a phone charger). Plus the same $6 you have to pay monthly for maintenance. Zola supplies solar panels, lithium batteries and lamps from the manufacturer to end customers, which significantly reduces the cost of production. In this way, the company is fighting poverty and the environmental problems of rural Africa. Since 2012, first Off Grid Electric, and then Zola, has raised more than $58 million from international investors, including Solar City, DBL Partners, Vulcan Capital, and USAID - the United States Agency for International Development.
M-Kopa
β Kenyan startup competitor Zola helps households that are not connected to electricity. The power of the solar panels that M-Kopa sells is enough to power two light bulbs, a radio, recharge a flashlight and a phone (all but the last one comes with a battery). The user pays about 3500 Kenyan shillings (about $34) immediately, then - 50 shillings (about 45 cents) per day. More than 800 homes and businesses in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania use M-Kopa batteries. For six years of work, the startup has attracted more than $000 million in investments. The largest investors are LGT Venture Philanthropy and Generation Investment Management. According to Jesse Moore, the company's chief executive and co-founder, M-Kopa's customers will see projected savings of $41 million over the next four years by getting kerosene-free lighting.
Trading
Jumia
- another startup from Lagos, Nigeria (yes, they know how to write not only letters of happiness, but also IT ). Now it is actually an analogue of the well-known Aliexpress, but more convenient in terms of the services provided. Five years ago, the company started out trading in clothing and electronics, and now it is a large marketplace where you can buy everything from food to cars or real estate. It is also convenient to search for a job and book a hotel room on Jumia. Jumia does business in 23 countries that generate 90% of the African continent's GDP (including Ghana, Kenya, CΓ΄te d'Ivoire, Morocco and Egypt). In 2016, the company had over 3000 employees, and in 2018, Jumia processed over 13 million orders. Not only African, but also international investors invest in the company. Last March, it received $326 million from a pool of investors that included Goldman Sachs, AXA and MTN. and became the first African unicorn to receive a $1 billion valuation.
Sokowatch
An interesting startup from Kenya, launched in 2013, is increasing the availability of everyday consumer products by allowing small shops to place orders from various international suppliers at any time via SMS. Orders are then processed through the Sokowatch system, and courier services are notified to deliver the order to the store within the next 24 hours. Using accumulated purchasing data, Sokowatch evaluates retailers to provide them with access to credit and other financial services not normally available to small businesses. Sokowatch was named one of the three winners of the Innotribe Startup Challenge, developed in the World Bank's XL Africa startup accelerator.
Sky Garden
from Kenya is actually a startup platform offering "software as a service" () for small businesses, designed specifically for African businesses. Sky.garden's easy-to-use online store allows individuals, small businesses and businesses of all sizes to sell their products. A few months after launch, the startup posted a steady 25% increase in monthly order volumes. This made it possible for him to participate in a three-month development program for the Norwegian accelerator Katapult with financial support of $100.
Entertainment
Tupuca
is an Angolan startup that offered a unique food delivery service for the country. Launched in 2015, it was Angola's first platform to allow users to order from multiple restaurants directly from their smartphone. The company now has over 200 active customers. It's funny that at the very beginning of development, the company could not take a prize at the Angolan stage of the Seedstars World startups competition. But in 000, they finalized their decision and again applied for the fate. And this time they won. Now the company offers delivery of not only food, but also medicines, as well as purchases from supermarkets.
PayPass
is a Nigerian startup that has streamlined the process of buying and selling tickets for any event in the country (seminars, public dinners, movie screenings, concerts, etc.). Users can create their own events, share them on social media, register their audience, buy and sell tickets, with payments processed through a third-party payment processor, Paystack.
Technologies
Will&Brothers
is an interesting company from Cameroon, which appeared in 2015 and is actively creating startups. The most famous and popular of them offers solutions for drones based on artificial intelligence. The company has developed AI "Cyclops" that can help drones detect people, objects and vehicles and identify different types of animals in specific locations. The project was named Drone Africa. Also, the TEKI VR project was recently launched, focused on the use of virtual reality technologies.
MainOne
- a popular provider from Nigerian Lagos. The company provides telecommunications services and network solutions throughout West Africa. Since its launch in 2010, MainOne has been providing services to major carriers, ISPs, government agencies, small and large businesses and educational institutions in West Africa. MainOne also owns a data center subsidiary, MDX-i. MDX-i, as West Africa's first Tier III data center and the only ISO 9001, 27001, PCI DSS and SAP Infrastructure Services certified hosting center, provides hybrid cloud services domestically. (Cloud4Y like , just had to add this company to the list :))
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Source: habr.com