60 Startups selected for second cohort of Google for Startups

Google has announced that 60 eligible black-founded start-ups across Africa have been selected for the second cohort of Google for Startups Black Founders Fund (BFF) for Africa.

The winning recipients were announced during a launch event in Johannesburg on Tuesday.

The start-ups joining the programme will receive a total of $4million in funding and support to enable them to scale up their ongoing work.

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Google said each of the selected start-ups 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. “

Start-ups from South Africa include Agrikool, CreditAIs, Mapha, Rekisa and Technovera.

The grantees, made up of 50% women-led businesses, hail from Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda.

They specialise in sectors such as fintech, healthcare, e-commerce, logistics, agtech, education, hospitality and smart cities.

The top five countries with the most start-ups selected for the programme 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 start-up each, Cameroon and Ghana both have three grantees each while Ethiopia has two selected grantees. 

Folarin Aiyegbusi, Head of Startup Ecosystem, SSA said 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 programmes will be able to bridge the gap of disproportionate funding between expat start-ups over local and black-led companies.”

Launched in April 2012, the Google for Start-up’s programme has created over 4600 jobs and raised more than $290M in funding.

The Google for Start-up’s Black Founders Fund programme 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 Africa economy.

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