Ten African tech startups will present their solutions to a varied group of industry experts, investors and fellow innovators on February 14th and 15th at the Africa Tech Summit Nairobi.
The investment showcase aims to create partnerships and attract investments to fill the funding gap in the ecosystem, despite the decline of African startup funding in 2023. Data from Africa: The Big Deal shows that African startup funding dropped by 39 per cent, from $4.6bn in the previous year to $2.9bn in 2023.
The showcase received over 250 entries from various African countries, such as Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania, Nigeria, Ghana, South Sudan, Malawi, Angola, Morocco, Botswana, Benin, Congo, Uganda, South Africa, Sierra Leone and more, demonstrating the huge potential for innovation and collaboration in the continent. The ten chosen startups, covering fintech, agritech, e-commerce, Web3, and climate-tech sectors, are seeking funding from $500,000 to $15mn. They are:
Node Bio (Kenya) is using advanced plant science to create crop treatment that can cope with the negative effects of climate change. Their novel solution, Farmchef, helps plants to survive drought, extreme heat, and other water-related challenges.
Valu (Egypt) is MENA’s top Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) lifestyle-enabling fintech platform, providing customers and businesses with convenient and comprehensive financial solutions.
Bingtellar (Nigeria) is developing payment infrastructure for global citizens including freelancers, remote workers, contractors, businesses. Their ramp product makes it easy to buy and sell crypto and enables fast money transfer across Africa.
Dukka (Nigeria) is transforming payments and bookkeeping solutions to help small businesses across Africa to accept all digital payment methods.
FutureLink Technologies (Uganda) is a digital marketplace that is simplifying financial access for individuals and enabling payments for financial cooperatives. FutureLink Technologies is the first African company to win the Global SME Finance Platinum Award for Product Innovation of the year 2022.
Tausi App (Kenya) is a beauty tech company that is using technology to connect beauticians to potential customers. Tausi has registered over 6000 beauticians so far.
Feegor (Nigeria) is a B2B e-commerce company that is linking Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to manufacturers and major wholesalers.
Peercarbon (Kenya) is a climate fintech startup using granular emissions data and cutting-edge sustainable finance technology to empower African SMEs. Peercarbon’s Software as a Service (SaaS) platform offers real-time insights, making it easy for businesses to monitor their carbon footprint.
Regxta (Nigeria) is offering financial services to underserved communities and micro-businesses in rural and peri-urban areas across Africa, including internally displaced persons and refugees.
URBANET (Kenya) fosters international dialogue on development activities worldwide, providing insights on municipal and local governance, sustainable urban development, and decentralization.
Henry Umunnakwe, Ecosystems & Sales Manager of Africa Tech Summit said: “Despite the challenging context of reduced funding for African startups in 2023, the entrepreneurial spirit remains strong across the continent, and we are excited to introduce these 10 innovative ventures for this edition of the Investment Showcase. Our main goal of the Showcase is to highlight and create connections for these ventures with both local and global investors. We look forward to welcoming over 1000 delegates to the summit to catalyse collaborative efforts and boost investments to further drive innovation and growth throughout the continent.”
