The Spark Accelerator Program has unveiled the second cohort of 10 startups which can be poised to drive innovation and scale in Africa.
The chosen startups are: Mediakits.Io, WePlay Arcade, GoPay, FlexPay, QuePay, Leta.AI, Oye, DigiTax, Incourage Insurance coverage Company Restricted and StockApp.
The function in broad segments of the economic system together with embedded finance, artistic economic system, future fintech, and SME productiveness instruments.
Spark Accelerator program, an initiative backed by Kenya’s tech big Safaricom has welcomed 10 startups into the second cohort of coaching, aiming at higher reshaping the way forward for digital first economic system throughout Africa. The ten startups, which have been chosen from a pool of 200 candidates, will endure coaching earlier than pitching earlier than potential traders for numerous types of financing subsequent 12 months to hurry up development.
In an trade replace on Wednesday, Safaricom and companions introduced the fortunate 10 startups as: Mediakits.Io, WePlay Arcade, GoPay, FlexPay, QuePay, Leta.AI, Oye, DigiTax, Incourage Insurance coverage Company Restricted and StockApp. Leaders of those startups will now endure an intensive three-month program teaching that’s aimed toward accelerating their enlargement, setting them up for long-term success throughout goal markets in Africa and past.
The Spark Accelerator is a company accelerator powered by a strategic partnership between Safaricom, M-PESA Africa, and Sumitomo Company, applied by iHUB, with help from Vodacom, PwC, and AWS.
What Spark Accelerator Program trains on
Spark Accelerator Program consists of core modules of coaching, mentorship, financing, in addition to a go-to-market initiative that spans throughout two avenues, particularly iHUB-led observe and company engagement observe. The iHUB-led Observe affords a tailormade teaching that immerses the members to expert-led workshops, advisory boards, and success mentorship plans.
Then again, company engagement observe affords startups entry to Safaricom and M-PESA Africa’s business and technical groups, plus the tech big’s huge distribution worth chain, providing the companies an edge of their push to scale and combine with ecosystems.
The second cohort of Spark Accelerator program has drawn startups with presence throughout numerous segments of the digital economic system, together with embedded finance, creatives, way forward for fintech, in addition to these minting numerous productiveness instruments concentrating on SMEs.
“As a part of our dedication to our function of reworking lives, we goal to Nurture, Develop and Scale commercially viable tech start-ups that drive optimistic societal influence. We’ve broadened our scope of help to early-stage startups that match the factors, to incorporate know-how and product growth help, entry to market and entry to capital,” stated Dr. Peter Ndegwa, CEO, Safaricom.
Spark Accelerator program will culminate in an investor showcase in February subsequent 12 months, the place the startups will pitch to a staff of enterprise funds, and potential traders. What’s extra, the startups shall be receiving 9 to 12 months of strategic help after the acceleration immersion.
Learn additionally: Startups in Africa really feel the pinch in August as funding dips sharply
Artistic ecosystems want financing fashions
“Africa’s innovation and inventive ecosystems want financing fashions that transcend the present conventional financing sources. Company accelerators play an important position by bringing the sources, infrastructure, and market entry of established corporations into direct partnership with startups. This strategy strengthens the capability of ventures to scale and creates new pathways for sustainable development and resilience throughout the continent. The dedication of Safaricom, M-PESA Africa, Sumitomo, AWS, and PwC makes this imaginative and prescient doable, and we’re proud to work collectively to form Africa’s innovation and inventive future.” Ojoma Ochai, Managing Director iHUB and Co-creation HUB.
The inaugural cohort showcased this system’s energy in empowering startups with market entry, tech help, mentorship, and investor connections, driving scalability and sustainability. For instance, Twiva collaborated with Safaricom Hook to onboard over 11,000 influencers, whereas Chpter scaled its AI-driven platform into South Africa and Nigeria. HealthX Africa boosted its subscriber base by 40% in six months, integrating with M-PESA’s shopper miniApps to fulfill rising demand for hybrid healthcare.
Chumz reached over 300,000 customers by way of gamified financial savings methods and expanded into Rwanda, and BlackRhino’s partnership with Safaricom’s Model staff earned the 2024 Advertising and marketing Society of Kenya’s Greatest Rising Expertise in Advertising and marketing award. Safaricom continues to foster business partnerships with these Cohort I startups.
Learn additionally: Safaricom’s main M-PESA improve since 2015 to ship scalability, resilience
African startups with world influence
The Spark Accelerator’s success tales spotlight its pivotal position as a catalyst for African startups with world influence, fostering innovation that resonates far past the continent.
Second-cohort startups will leverage Safaricom’s sturdy know-how belongings, comparable to Daraja and M-PESA Africa Open APIs, alongside hands-on product growth and integration help, enabling them to quickly construct, check, and scale transformative options throughout various markets.
Via iHUB’s Pan-African innovation community, these startups faucet right into a dynamic neighborhood of entrepreneurs, consultants, and ecosystem enablers, unlocking alternatives for cross-border partnerships, market enlargement, and data sharing. Additional bolstered by companions like AWS, which supplies Activate Credit for crucial cloud infrastructure, this system equips startups with the company instruments, neighborhood connections, and technical sources wanted for environment friendly scaling and enduring success
