Nigerian Maritime Startup, MVXchange and WellaHealth to Get $37,000 Funding and Support From Founders Factory

Two Nigerian startups – Maritime transport startup MVXchange and Healthcare startup, WellaHealth, have been accepted into Founders Factory Africa’s Venture Scale programme.

These startups alongside two other African startups will take part in the six-month programme. This period will see them receive mentorship, tailored support services and $37,000 in cash investment.

Four startups selected for Founders Factory Africa programme each net over £30k https://t.co/97AMrYamFE

— Ventureburn (@Ventureburn) March 31, 2020

This is the second set of African startups that will be accepted into the program this year. An earlier cohort that included Nigeria’s Foodlocker was announced in February 2020.

This is a part of Founders Factory’s drive to design, build and scale 140 disruptive tech startups across Africa over the next five years. This is through its Venture Scale programme which focuses on developing existing startups that have the potential to scale across the continent.

Last year it partnered with South African healthcare company Netcare to run an acceleration and incubation program for African health-tech startups.

Motor Vessel Xchange (MVXchange) is a startup operating like “Uber for the maritime sector.” The startup connects vessel charterers directly to offshore support vessels (OSV’s) operating on the coast of West Africa.

WellaHealth is a Nigerian health tech startup. Its malaria testing solution allows users to get tested and cared for within 15 minutes from their location.

The other two startups include Ghanaian diagnostics platform Redbird, and South African web and app-based escrow platform, Truzo.

These startups will get access to $273,000 in tailored support services and as stated earlier, an additional financial investment of $37,000.

This support includes access to Founders Factory’s pool of talent to scale product development, UX/UI, engineering, investment, business development and growth marketing.

A huge welcome to @truzopay, @MVXchange, @Redbirdht & @WellaHealth who have just joined the FFA Venture Scale programme! These are challenging times & we’re excited to see how these businesses use technology to help solve some of Africa’s most pressing problems. #TechInnovation pic.twitter.com/wqEorkF5fm

— FoundersFactoryAfrica (@FoundersFFA) March 30, 2020

The four startups will also be open to further investment from Founders Factory Africa’s pan-African corporate investors – Standard Bank and Netcare once they get their value propositions proven. The startups will further get access to exclusive partnerships with the ventures platform including access to distribution channels, customer acquisition, pilots, data, IP and expertise.