Unsurprisingly, there has been an increased number of African startups participating in the Techstars Toronto Accelerator program due to the Accelerator’s drive to multiply its investments in African startups per year to 24.
The latest Techstars Accelerator program in 2022 has admitted 3 more African countries than its 2021 program.
Techstars Toronto provides early-stage startups with access to financial, human, and intellectual resources to spur the success of their business. Upon acceptance, companies admitted into the program get an investment worth more than $100,000.
The number of companies participating in Techstar’s Toronto’s Winter 2022 class is the same as last year (12) but the number of African startups increased to 9.
In the spring batch, 7 African startups made the cut. The Winter cohort has seen 9 African countries admitted, all Nigerian startups with a local and international base.
Without further ado, let’s meet these African startups.
Related story: Meet the 8 African startups selected for Techstars Toronto October 2021 batch
Fez Delivery Co
Fez Delivery Co is a Nigerian startup that offers core end-to-end support to individuals and businesses for their last-mile deliveries across Africa and beyond.
Founded in 2020 by Bethany Buer, Oluwafemi Jose, and Seun Alle, Fez provides an API framework that allows upstream and downstream customers to seamlessly integrate with partners at all levels without making any changes to their order management systems..
The startup recently supported the African Money & Fintech Summit that held in Accra.
In Nigeria, the e-commerce and last-mile delivery market is projected to be worth more than $20 billion in the next five years. With that said, Nigeria’s last-mile challenges are anchored by weak transport infrastructure and service providers’ ability to reach the far regions of the country.
Based on this, the company is offering solutions with a mission to be Africa’s leading technology-enabled logistics company, perfecting the last mile and solving complex delivery needs with best-in-class infrastructure.
GIGXPad
GIGXPAD or GIGX Technologies, is an African financial asset platform powered by GIG Group.
It focuses on financially empowering individuals with important tools and knowledge while preserving the value of an individual’s wealth amid inflation crippling most African economies.
Founded in 2021, by Osamede Arhunmwunde, Chukwudi Anyanwuocha and Godswill Omozusi. The company has its own all-in-one app that allows users to store, earn, invest and spend their crypto-assets. The app brings solutions to help make finance accessible for all Africans and beyond Africa.
The platform is Africa’s first decentralized marketplace, bringing real-world business opportunities to a blockchain-based environment.
Read also: GIGX Technologies admitted into Techstars Toronto 2022 Winter cohort
Glover Technologies
Glover is a digital asset marketplace created to facilitate the buying and selling of Gift cards, the conversion of excess Airtime to Cash, the ease of payment for utility bills through refill services, and the one-stop shop for E-tickets.
Founded in 2021, the idea of the platform for co-founders Damilola Layode and Fejiro Agbodje was driven by the enterprising spirit of young people in Africa. Glover is a community impact-building solution provider designed to improve the Gift card shopping experience and the gifting culture in the continent and the world.
The company was introduced by Patricia Technologies as a means to oversee the non-crypto services of the business.
Klas
Founded in 2021 by Nathan Nwachuku, Klas is an EdTech platform that allows anyone to start an online school and deliver live lessons. It is like a Spotify version of online learning and teaching.
The platform supports everything you can teach online, including payments, scheduling, community, analytics, and video conferencing. The Nigerian EdTech company secured $130,000 in an angel round in April this year.
Klas’s mission is to unlock the power of knowledge sharing through technology. Its main objective is to liberate knowledge sharing’s potential.
The startup claims to have expanded to over 2,000 creators on its waitlist, released V2, and worked with leading companies worldwide. On Klas, creators can teach various subjects, including coding, design, cryptography, business, and languages.
Simpu
Simpu is a B2B software-as-a-service (B2B SaaS) startup that simplifies business communication and customer engagement.
Launched into private beta in November 2021, with its all-in-one omnichannel inbox, the platform allows businesses to receive and send messages across different platforms, including email, Whatsapp, SMS, iMessage, and Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter—from a single dashboard.
Recently, in an interview with Technext, the CEO, Collins Iheagwara noted that the future of customer experience is one where both customers and businesses are empowered to resolve issues and access information fast and across all channels.
He said:
“This is why we have built Simpu, an omnichannel customer communication management software that empowers teams to deliver quality, fast, self-serve experience across any channel with automated workflows, integrations, and more all in one place.”
Collins Iheagwara, CEO Simpu
Iheagwara claims that since entering private beta in November 2021, the company has generated over $80,000 in SaaS revenues by selling monthly or yearly subscriptions to its subscribers.
Raenest
Raenest is a hiring and payroll platform that enables African entrepreneurs to incorporate remote contractors and workers. It was founded by Richard Oyome, Sodruldeen Mustapha, and Victor Alade.
The platform helps talents in Africa get paid faster by clients and businesses globally while saving costs on fees. Aside from Techstars, the company is backed by Venturesplatform, Ajim Capital, and Voltron Capital.
Its assistance with creating clear invoices quickly and efficiently for managing payments from partners and clients worldwide is another feature available to consumers. The website accepts payments in all major currencies worldwide to virtual bank accounts in your name.
Renda
With a mission to simplify and ease the process of order fulfilment and retail distribution for e-commerce businesses across Africa, Renda is making it easier for e-commerce businesses to operate and grow in Africa.
Founded by Abimbola and Opeoluwa Onaboye, the platform offers a logistical infrastructure that helps e-commerce companies process a huge number of orders across Africa. The tech platform & physical infrastructure are made for e-commerce business, and none is off-limits.
So far, the company, based in over 10 cities and valued at over $10 million, has over 9o warehouses situated in Africa with a 96% fulfilment rate. The startup also has over 300 drivers operating to deliver its products.
LaborHack
LaborHack provides an exclusive network of tested and certified carpenters, plumbers, electricians, masons, welders, and more and connects them to the businesses and households that need them.
According to the founder, Oare Ehiemua, Laborhack was inspired by the need to create a direct link between the client and the artisans dedicated to performing on-demand services on call whenever the need arises.
The Nigerian startup has established links to over 1500 artisans and over 400 businesses.
The Nigerian startup so far has links to over 1500 artisans providing more than 400 businesses.
MAMY Wear
Mamy Wear was founded in 2021 to create a modern, responsible and lasting alternative to traditional eyeglasses and frames.
The Kenyan company makes and assembles eyeglasses, ‘elegant’, as it calls it, and offers them at cheaper prices.
According to the startup, their frames are manufactured with top-tier material and assembled in Kenya, while the prescribed lenses are supplied by the world’s leading supplier, Essilor.
“We’re cutting out the middlemen (and their margins), and oversee all steps, from the birth of conception to the final polish. By designing our collections in-house and serving our consumers directly, we can offer a fair and transparent price for high quality glasses.”
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