Africa, known for its vibrant entrepreneurial spirit, has emerged as a hotbed for start-ups and innovation. Fuelled by limited employment opportunities and a wave of market prospects, the continent’s start-up scene has experienced exponential growth in recent years, attracting local and international investors.
According to a recent report by Statista, in just six years, from 2015 to 2021, the funding value for African start-ups has skyrocketed from less than $190 million to a staggering $2 billion. This remarkable growth in funding showcases the increasing confidence in Africa’s start-up ecosystem and highlights its potential for global success.
This potential has been reaffirmed with the recent selection of fifteen exceptional start-ups for the next phase of the e-Track Programme. Developed by UCT GSB Solution Space in partnership with ayoba, this two-phase venture acceleration and capacity-building programme supports start-ups by tackling the various stages of venture building and development.
In a virtual welcome session held earlier this month, both Vanessa Ramanjam, the Programme Manager at UCT GSB Solution Space, and Shiela Yabo, Head of Ecosystem Development at ayoba, warmly welcomed the start-ups to this next phase and congratulated them on emerging victorious in what was an intensive and very competitive phase 1. The selected start-ups, who aim to make a lasting impact in various industries, ranging from education and health to finance, agriculture, childcare, wellness, tech, and AI, expressed their enthusiasm for being chosen to proceed to the next phase. They eagerly anticipated tapping into the wide range of resources offered by the programme that aims to accelerate their growth and success in the start-up ecosystem.
Over the next four months, the start-ups will have access to a comprehensive range of learning resources. These resources include but are not limited to, guidance on brand and corporate identity portfolio development, IP strategy, legal advisory, business domain registration, finance and accounting, and product design and development, with a focus on Minimum Viable Product (MVP) creation.
The start-ups selected range from Timbaktuu Jobs, an e-recruitment platform for blue-collar jobs in South Africa, to Logsandtabs, a software and web applications provider in Botswana, and Peritia, an assistive application developer in Kenya. Other start-ups include Clement Foods in Malawi, focused on enhancing fish production; Nestle Care in safe childcare; and BEAP Capital in Nigeria, providing infrastructure and IoT technology solutions to the water, gas, and power sectors.
This is an exciting phase for start-ups across the continent. The UCT GSB Solution Space and Yabo are eager to support and grow their ideas and ventures together. The program will conclude in October 2023.
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