Google has announced four Nigerian startups among the 12 selected for the fourth cohort of its African Launchpad accelerator based in Lagos.
The four startups selected from Nigeria are Afara Partners, Reach, TradeBuza, and Xend. Others countries were also represented as 2 startups were selected from South Africa, 3 from Kenya, and one each from Ghana, Zimbabwe and Uganda.
According to Fola Olatunji-David, Google head of Startup Success and Services, the quality of startups that apply for the Google Launchpad Accelerator Africa programme has been impressive and that the fourth class was no exception.
Class 4 is no exception and we expect them to build on the successes of the previous three classes.
Fola Olatunji-David, the Google head of start-up success and services
The startups selected for the accelerator programme will be provided with travel and public relations support during each three-month programme as well as working space, and access to expert advisers from Google, Silicon Valley and Africa.
Olatunji-David also added that Google has been refining the programme to improve its support for the participating startups and understand the context of their operations.
These startups have worked hard to grow their businesses, understand what they needed to do and, in some cases, pivot their entire model.
Fola Olatunji-David, the Google head of start-up success and services
Here are the four Nigerian startups selected
Over the last six months, Google said the 12 startups participating in Africa’s fourth Launchpad have raised more than $600k in revenue.
Afara Partners, one of the participants, provides wealth management, micro-loans, P2P lending, LPO financing, utility/assets financing and cross border remittance services to the financially under-served or excluded.
Their platforms include Tannadi a platform that allows members save and get attractive guaranteed returns and Lendaba, a peer-to-peer lending platform that allows people borrow money from their friends and family.
Reach, through their app, provides the info needed for great financial choices. They recognise, categorise and interprets transaction data from SMS and other sources, making this data available as individual market insights on spending tips, tools, sales, deals, and financial services.
TradeBuza is a cloud-based web and mobile application that leverages technology to help clients manage their out-grower schemes and commodities trade more effectively. They use digitisation of contract farming and trade to improve efficiency, provide visibility and transparency into out-growers and commodities sourcing activities.
Xend is a payment platform that offers scalable and parallel algorithm in payments, blockchain technology and computing by allowing users either online or offline to make and receive payments.
Other startups from across Africa selected for the Google Africa Launchpad include; BrandBook (South Africa), Elewa (Kenya), Eversend (Uganda), OZE (Ghana), Phenomenal Technologies (Zimbabwe), Sortd (South Africa), Tulaa (Kenya), and WorkPay (Kenya).
The Google launch accelerator program serves as an opportunity for selected Nigerian and African startups to leverage the vast resources and support of Google to grow their products and company into a bigger brand.
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