Google has
selected 60 African Startups from 10 countries on the continent to participate
in Cohort 2 of the Google Black Founders Fund (BFF).
Each startup
is expected to receive an amount of $ 4 million in funding and support to
enable them to scale up its ongoing project.
Startups from South Africa include Agrikool, CreditAIs, Mapha, Rekisa, and Technovera. Each of the selected startups
will receive support in the form of a 6-month training programme that includes
access to a network of mentors to assist in tackling challenges that are
unique to them.
They will also be part of tailored
workshops, support networks, and community-building sessions. The 60
grantees will also get non-dilutive awards of between $50,000 and $100,000
and up to $200,000 in Google Cloud credit.
The grantees, made up of 50% women-led
businesses, hail from Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya,
Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda. They specialize in sectors
such as fintech, healthcare, e-commerce, logistics, agtech, education,
hospitality, and smart cities. The top five countries with the most startups
selected for the program are Nigeria with twenty-three grantees, Kenya with
twelve grantees, Rwanda with six grantees, South Africa with five grantees, and
Uganda with four grantees. Botswana and Senegal have one selected startup
each, Cameroon and Ghana both have three grantees each, while Ethiopia has
two selected grantees.
“Africa is a diverse continent with massive
opportunity, but the continent is faced with the challenge of limited diversity
in venture capital funding flow. We hope that the Black Founders Fund
program will be able to bridge the gap of disproportionate funding between
expat startups over local and black-led companies.”, says Folarin Aiyegbusi,
Head of Startup Ecosystem, SSA.
Launched in April 2012, the Google for
Startups program has created over 4,600 jobs and raised more than $290M in
funding. The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund program will
introduce the grantees in Africa to Google's products, connections,
and best practices which will help the founders to level the playing field as
they build better products and services that add value to the African economy.
Funding for the Google for Startup Black
Founders Fund will be distributed through Google’s implementation
partner, CcHUB. “The
equity-free cash assistance to startups will enable them to take care of
immediate needs such as paying staff, funding inventory, and maintaining
software licences. This is to help the grantees buffer the cost of taking
on debt in the early stages of their business as many of them do not have
steady revenue streams yet”, Aiyegbusi concludes.
Funding Black founders in Africa fuels
generational and systemic change. The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund
for Africa program reinforces Google’s commitment to empowering entrepreneurs
and startups in the region as a vital prerequisite to driving employment and
growth on the continent.
By: Kanto Okanta
