After his higher education in Germany, he moved back to his native country to improve the quality of mobility offerings. He specifically focused on an industry crowded with amateurs: motorcycle taxis.  

Patrick Timani (photo) is a Cameroonian embedded system engineer and tech entrepreneur. In 2015, he graduated from the University of Pforzheim, in Germany. He also holds a microfinance expert certification from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management. 

In 2017, he co-founded BeeGroup, a mobility startup he currently heads as the chief executive officer. His startup offers two services through its mobile app (available for Android and iOS devices).

The first service is Bee Delivery, which facilitates last-mile delivery. It covers the logistics chain and makes short, medium, and long-distance delivery with its trucks, gaining the confidence of several national and international companies in Cameroon.

The second service, which sets Patrick Timani apart in the local startup ecosystem, is Bee Moto, a motorcycle-hailing service. On its website, BeeGroup explains that Bee Moto aims to formalize the motorcycle taxi industry in French-speaking Africa.  

“Motorcycle is one of the most popular modes of transport in Cameroon and other French-speaking countries, but the motorcycle transport sector is not organized. We believe that we can make a big change by offering a new, modern service that would make motorcycle transport convenient and comfortable. We are pleased to partner with Yango, an international service, to give all Cameroonians the opportunity to arrive at their destinations on time and safely,” Patrick indicated in August 2022, when signing a partnership agreement with mobility startup Yango, in Douala. 

In 2020, Bee signed a partnership agreement with Baloon Insurance. It thus became the agent in charge of delivering insurance certificates to Baloon Insurance clients. In early September 2022, it secured a contract with OneAllSports - Cameroon’s national football team’s new equipment manufacturer- becoming the official dealer of OnAllSports products in Cameroon. 

In June 2022, after a successful experience in Cameroon, where the mobility start-up is becoming more attractive by the day, it launched its activities in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Before his Bee Group experience, Patrick Timani honed his skills working for renowned companies. In 2013, he completed a one-year internship at the German energy company Siemens. The following year, he worked as an intern at the optronics, system technologies, and image exploitation application development company Fraunhofer IOSB. His startup is among the 60 beneficiaries of the 2022 Google for Startups Black Founders Fund.

Melchior Koba