TECH STARS (831)
KivuHub describes itself as a hub for tech entrepreneurs. It provides virtual spaces for ambitious startups and entrepreneurs aiming to make a global impact through technology, thereby uplifting the eastern DR Congo region.
Established in 2017 by Eliud Aganze and a team of co-founders comprising Patrick Nahayo, Julien Ntibonera, and Marius Mathondo, KivuHub is a tech accelerator and virtual coworking space based in the Democratic Republic of Congo. With a core focus on fostering the growth of startups, and small and medium-sized enterprises, as well as innovative tech projects, its mission is to provide support and promote these ventures.
The center offers mentoring and training, investor connection, web project management, graphic design, web/mobile/software development, and cybersecurity services. It also has a hybrid cloud platform that enables entrepreneurs to host their web and mobile applications.
In addition to its core activities, KivuHub has launched specific programs to support women, girls, and young entrepreneurs. The program aims to help beneficiaries innovate in technology by improving their digital skills, solving community problems, protecting the environment, and strengthening business networking and IT skills.
Through its platform Girls in Tech, the center aims to contribute to gender equality, improve the quality of education, and promote women’s digital inclusion in eastern DR Congo between 2022 and 2025.
KivuHub works with various investor networks and other hubs in the region to address the complex challenges facing the world. It is an active member of AfriLabs and other startup groups.
Melchior Koba
She uses tech tools to help businesses reach their full potential. Through her startup Telliscope, she offers an AI-powered business intelligence platform to companies.
Mellena Haile (photo) is the founder and managing director of Telliscope, a technology company that provides data and analysis on fast-growing emerging economies.
Born in Ethiopia, Mellena Haile moved to the United States with her family before completing her higher education. She obtained a Bachelor's degree in Architecture at the University of Virginia and continued her studies at the Darden Graduate School of Business, where she earned a Master of Business Administration.
In 2016, she founded E-Pulse, which later became Telliscope. It is a digital platform that uses artificial intelligence to collect, analyze, and visualize data on markets, consumers, and competitors in emerging countries. It enables entrepreneurs to market their businesses, access resources, and securely connect with investors. With offices in Washington D.C., Los Angeles, and Addis Ababa, it has a diverse team of technologists, economists, and designers.
On October 5, 2023, Telliscope was selected to join the Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First program. Along with the other 10 beneficiaries of the program, it will be mentored for 10 weeks to scale its AI solution globally and for Africa. The company will also receive up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits and access to Google's AI expertise and support.
Mellena Haile's professional career began in 2007 at Project Capital +, a project development company, where she was a summer associate in charge of emerging markets in Africa. In 2010, she joined the Kauffman Foundation, one of the world's leading organizations on entrepreneurship and education, as a lead researcher on Africa.
She has received numerous national and international awards for her entrepreneurial and innovative works. In 2016, she was on the African Next Generation Leaders list. Then, three years later, she was invited to the Africa Fintech Summit. In 2023, she also joined NVIDIA Inception, a program that supports high-growth early-stage companies revolutionizing industries with cutting-edge capabilities and technological advances.
Melchior Koba
Africa has abundant natural resources, yet grapples with many challenges, including food security, climate change, poverty, and youth unemployment. In response to these pressing issues, blueMoon Incubator fosters innovation and entrepreneurship within the agricultural sector, aiming to address these challenges through sustainable and impactful solutions.
blueMoon Incubator is Ethiopia's first agribusiness startup incubator. Founded in 2016 by Eleni Gabre-Madhin, a serial entrepreneur responsible for innovation at UNDP Africa, blueMoon Incubator's mission is to discover, incubate, and invest in exceptional ideas and founding teams in the agricultural sector.
The incubator presents an intensive four-month program, conducted biannually in Addis Ababa, engaging 10 teams comprising 2-3 entrepreneurs carefully chosen from a pool of hundreds of applicants. Successful startups enrolled in the program receive tailored guidance, training, and entry to an extensive network of investors, service providers, and strategic partners. Additionally, they receive an initial funding of 200,000 Ethiopian birr (approximately $3,500) in exchange for 10% equity. Moreover, the participants gain access to 12 months of coaching from external volunteer mentors, who are seasoned business professionals, providing both individual and team support.
Upon completion of the incubation program, startups are presented with various funding options facilitated by blueMoon Ventures for their subsequent investment rounds. Additionally, the incubator provides versatile coworking spaces, and offices, as well as informal and formal meeting spaces, accessible around the clock and furnished with high-speed WiFi connectivity.
As a member of the AfriLabs network, blueMoon has signed partnerships with several companies and institutions. The incubator's partner institutions include Iceaddis, Digital Opportunity Trust, The xHub, The MasterCard Foundation, and Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs.
Melchior Koba
The serial entrepreneur co-founded Mstudio to support and finance entrepreneurs in French-speaking Africa. With a particular emphasis on empowering women and the youth, she aims to foster the growth of Africa's next generation of unicorns.
Leslie Ossete (photo) is a serial technology entrepreneur of Congolese and Madagascan descent. Raised in Congo, she moved to the United States to pursue her studies. In 2012, she graduated from UWC-USA (United World College) with an International Baccalaureate. In 2016, she got a Bachelor’s in Economics, Business, and Nonprofit Management from Earlham College.
Driven by the ambition to transform the informal sector in French-speaking African countries, she co-founded Mstudio, the first “mobile” startup studio in French-speaking West Africa, in September 2022.
The studio, where she serves as the Chief Operating Officer, creates and finances startups that meet current needs in the informal sector. It also provides expert support, drawing inspiration from business models that work in English-speaking African countries. Based in Côte d'Ivoire, it focuses particularly on women and young people, who are the main users of mobile technology in Africa.
"Our approach aims to narrow the investment gap in French-speaking Africa by assisting entrepreneurs in establishing high-impact startups, mirroring successful business models from English-speaking Africa, Latin America, and Asia rather than reinventing the wheel. As the pioneering startup studio in French-speaking Africa, we offer not just expertise and funding, but also an unparalleled network for the startups we champion," Leslie Ossete explained in late May 2023.
In 2015, the latter co-founded BuuPass, a digital marketplace that enables urban travelers to book their tickets. She served as its CEO until 2017. She boasts a professional career with several African companies such as Bolt Kenya, the mobility company, where she was COO in 2019, and Wave Mobile Money where she was successively, between 2020 and 2022, the company's launcher in West African countries and head of growth.
With BuuPass, Leslie Ossete won the prestigious Hult Prize awarded by US President Clinton to young entrepreneurs in 2016. In 2017, she became the winner of the African Women in Technology Prize. The following year, Transdev awarded BuuPass as one of the best transport innovations working on the technology scene in Nairobi, Kenya.
Melchior Koba
Woelab is a visionary organization at the heart of African innovation. Under the leadership of Sénamé Koffi Agbodjinou, the center has quickly emerged as a trailblazer in the realm of technology and as a support for young innovators.
Established in August 2012, WoeLab serves as a technology hub that fosters, trains, incubates, and accelerates startup initiatives across Africa. Situated in Lomé, Togo, and launched as a component of the HubCité initiative by the L'Africaine d'architecture platform, this fabrication laboratory was founded by Sénamé Koffi Agbodjinou (photo, left), a young independent researcher, architect, and anthropologist from Togo.
Beyond being just a laboratory, WoeLab serves as an inclusive, collaborative space for fostering creativity, an incubator for startups, and an informal training ground. Within its premises, about thirty young individuals craft an array of devices using components gathered from trash cans. One of WoeLab's most remarkable achievements is the W.Afate 3D Printer, Africa's first 100% recycled open-source 3D printer. Several units of that 3D printer have already been sold.
The laboratory provides free support for the center's artisans in their technological projects and introduces them to digital manufacturing. Additionally, it hosts educational initiatives for youth, including the "3DprintAfrica Educative" program, which aims to educate them on designing systems compatible with 3D printers and creating practical objects for their surroundings.
WoeLab positions itself as a realm of "technological democracy," where everyone can innovate and contribute to the advancement of human knowledge while honoring the environment and local culture.
The diversity of its programs is also a major asset for young people. It has developed projects solving a number of urban problems, such as waste management (SCoPE), food and energy resources (Urbanattic), and digital currency (Sys'Woe).
The fablab was noticed by NASA in 2013 and finished in the top 30 (out of over 700 projects worldwide) of finalists in the "Special Challenge" organized each year by the US space agency. It boasts 1,300 m² of coworking space and has already trained over 500 fellows. The center is home to 12 start-ups and has organized 200 free public events. It is supported by 30 active partners worldwide
Melchior Koba
In a constantly evolving world, entrepreneur Nazib Ba shines for his innovative endeavors. Through his company Kori Tech, he creates and markets solutions that simplify the lives of Senegalese people.
Nazib Ba (photo) is the co-founder and CEO of Kori Tech, a Senegalese fintech startup founded in 2019. Through this company, the Senegalese entrepreneur helps clients easily scale up. The company offers cashless payment solutions leveraging the Internet of Things (IoT).
Its two flagship products are namely KoriPass and KoriSchool. KoriPass is a payment and customer loyalty system designed for merchants. It enables merchants to accept various mobile payment methods, such as Wave, Orange-Money, and Free, through a single terminal. It also allows merchants to build customer loyalty using connected objects such as bracelets, stickers, or key rings.
Meanwhile, KoriSchool is an innovative system for scoring and tracking students and teachers using the IoT. This platform, designed specifically for schools, offers the possibility of tracking student attendance, as well as managing and monitoring course progress in real-time.
Currently, Kori Tech has more than 50 merchants, over 1,500 KoriPass customers with over 5,000 transactions carried out every month, and more than 1,000 KoriSchool students. Thanks to KoriPass, it was the finalist of the Ecobank Fintech Challenge 2023. In October 2023, it was selected to join the fourth cohort of the ASIP accelerator program. That selection entitles it to an intensive three-month coaching and support program as well as benefits worth $750,000 to accelerate its growth.
Since June 2018, its CEO, Nazib Ba, is the chief operating officer of the real estate company Youmboye. In December 2018, he spent one month as the manager of Frip & Chic, a fashion, end-of-line, and second-hand clothing and accessories boutique.
Melchior Koba
As an acceleration program, Afriquia 50 Sprints offers innovative startups in the fields of mobility and new energies. This is a unique opportunity to develop and establish a global presence.
Afriquia 50 Sprints is an acceleration and financing program created by Afriquia, a Moroccan fuel distribution company, in partnership with the incubator HEC Paris of Station F, the world's largest startup campus. The program aims to support Moroccan, African, and international startups that introduce disruptive concepts in the fields of mobility and renewable energies.
The program was launched in 2020. It offers sprinters (selected startups) access to a network of experts, mentors, partners, and investors, as well as funding. Startups also benefit from a workspace at Station F in Paris, where they can take advantage of a dynamic and diverse innovation ecosystem.
Startups selected to join the Afriquia 50 Sprints program typically develop solutions in the fields of shared services, autonomy, electrics and connectivity, smart cities, infrastructure, and the last mile segment.
Beneficiaries are incubated at Station F for three months, get support from tutors and entrepreneurs, and take part in various workshops and themed events attended by experts. Their projects are also assessed by a panel of judges at the end of the program. Throughout the incubation period at HEC Paris, Afriquia covers the startups' travel and accommodation expenses.
Some of the startups that joined the Afriquia 50 Sprints program are Pip Pip Yalah, an inter-city car-sharing application, and Cathedis, an e-logistics solution that optimizes the management of goods flows between transport players. The success of these startups is testimony to the program's positive impact on the entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Melchior Koba
Fascinated by computer programming and technology from a young age, he initiated and organized hackathons and technology-centric events during his high school years. He now heads a startup that helps companies recruit the right tech profiles.
Ayhem Ghanmi (photo) is a young Tunisian entrepreneur. He is the founder and CEO of HackUp, a startup that is revolutionizing the tech talent recruitment landscape through an innovative and intelligent matching system.
Ayhem Ghanmi started programming at the age of 15. Inspired by Elon Musk, he has always been interested in Silicon Valley and the world of entrepreneurship. In 2017, the young entrepreneur began organizing technology events and mini-hackathons at Lycée Pilot de l'Ariana (LPA), where he studied from 2017 to 2021.
In 2020, he met Mohamed Aziz Najjar, who gave up his old job to join him in his project. That's how the Tunisian startup that organizes hackathons, HackUp, was born in 2020. HackUp redefines the way recruiters find developers. It developed a digital platform that uses a smart validation process, testing, assessing, and challenging candidates to reveal their tech level. Based on the scores achieved by developers, recruiters can then hire the developers they need.
Thanks to HackUp, Ayhem Ghanmi became, at the age of 18, the first high school student to be awarded the Startup Act label– A legislative measure designed to encourage the creation and development of startups in Tunisia through various incentives, including tax, social and administrative benefits– by the Tunisian government.
HackUp has organized more than five hackathons and has become the first startup in the Middle East and North Africa region to specialize in this field. Ambassador of AngelHack, a Silicon Valley startup, Ayhem Ghanmi was, between May and September 2019, the logistics and events manager for the Tunisia Education Exposition.
At the end of the fifth edition of the intensive Samsung FastTrack program, which took place in 2021, HackUp won first prize at Demo Day, the event that closed the program. In 2022, it was recognized by Najla Bouden, then head of the Tunisian government, as one of the eight startups that shone in their respective sectors.
Melchior Koba
CINOLU is an innovation hub that supports young innovators and entrepreneurs in the DRC. It offers incubation programs and services tailored to the local context, such as training, mentoring, networking, financing, and market access.
The Centre d’Innovation de Lubumbashi (CINOLU) was founded in 2015. With Berry Numbi, an electromechanical engineer, as CEO, its mission is to boost the regional competitiveness of young innovators and entrepreneurs in DR Congo through innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship.
It enables young innovators and entrepreneurs, particularly early-stage companies, startups, and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises, to access business knowledge, and increase their business acumen and network.
The center offers coworking space, organizes boot camps, internships, exhibitions, and conferences, and runs incubation and mentoring programs. In 2018, it was selected by Elan to organize, in Lubumbashi, the incubation program for the winners of the Congo Tech Days Hackathon.
In addition, CINOLU formulates projects and advocates for public policies in favor of innovative online entrepreneurship players. It also offers a wide range of workshops for entrepreneurs, mentors, and coaches.
In addition to its regular programs, the center has a women's laboratory, called Femmes360, which works to empower women and girls in the fields of technology and innovation.
Since its creation, CINOLU, with more than 15 mentors and coaches and over 1,000 beneficiaries, has developed over 150 projects and set up more than 8 programs. It works with government partners, companies, and organizations such as AfriLabs, Afric'Innov, Innovation for Policy Foundation (I4Policy), Meta, Silikin Village, RLabs, and Enabel.
Melchior Koba
With a degree in geoinformatics and geospatial intelligence, he helps companies better understand their markets and customers. His expertise has enabled his company to be selected by leading accelerator programs.
Bakuena Ntshasa (photo) is the co-founder and CEO of Brandbook, a startup that helps companies understand how best to serve their markets and customers. Born and raised in South Africa, the entrepreneur completed his higher education at the University of Pretoria, where he studied geoinformatics and geospatial intelligence.
Through Brandbook –founded in 2018, he offers businesses comprehensive insights into their brands, consumers, and competitors. He also facilitates the identification and targeting of new opportunities in relevant consumer categories and channels while also enabling a comprehensive understanding of a consumer's entire journey, ensuring a tailored response to their needs.
Based on purchase data as well as demographic attributes and habits, Brandbook's products enable retailers to easily generate comprehensive buyer segments. It also enables companies to understand visitors’ motivations, making it easier to drive sales.
One of the company's offerings is Ibottit, a shopping rewards app that launched in 2021. This app allows users to accumulate points and gifts by uploading images of their purchase receipts, whether in-store or online. Points accumulated can be redeemed for digital vouchers.
In 2018, the company was selected along with 9 other startups by Startupbootcamp AfriTech to take part in its acceleration program. In 2019, it was selected for the fourth edition of the Google Launchpad Africa accelerator.
During his studies, Bakuena Ntshasa worked at the University of Pretoria as a laboratory technician between 2015 and 2018, as well as portfolio manager for administration, finance, and discipline at Hatfield Studios, a private student residence not far from the University of Pretoria.
Melchior Koba
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Harhub is a community that fosters collaboration and innovation. It offers appropriate entrepreneurial training to young people as well as incubation services, mentoring, coaching, and technical assistance to entrepreneurs.
Hargeisa Hub (Harhub) is an innovation, co-working, and training space that supports entrepreneurs and innovators in Africa. Founded in 2018 by the Shaqodoon organization and led by Mahamoud Batalaale, an investment and business development specialist, it aims to reduce youth unemployment in Somaliland.
HarHub establishes incubation and acceleration initiatives tailored for young entrepreneurs, assisting them in refining their products, penetrating new markets, validating their concepts, and fostering expansion. Its flagship incubation program, Harhub Business Incubation, is designed to provide entrepreneurs and digital nomads with a secure space to foster startup growth and sustainability. It also encourages collaboration between entrepreneurs, through its coworking space. Participants in its programs gain access to a diverse network of global specialists.
The center is also developing training and investment programs to provide high-quality training and unique access to finance for startups and small and medium-sized enterprises in the early stages. The initiative aims to empower young, innovative entrepreneurs from low-income backgrounds, enabling them to independently establish their ventures.
Through its acceleration program, it helps young companies to develop, expand, and penetrate new markets. Harhub accepts all types of innovative businesses but, it mainly focuses on companies in the agriculture, livestock, energy, and technology sectors.
Harhub operates multiple venues dedicated to hosting events and meetings focused on digital innovation, entrepreneurship, and social progress. These events include the Startup Huddle, which brings together budding and emerging entrepreneurs, businesses, and consultants from Somaliland. The latter can be defined as a networking event that facilitates relations between entrepreneurs.
A member of the AfriLabs network, it is supported by UNDP, Crosswise Works, and Oxfam, among others. In terms of impact, Harhub has received 2,805 applications, invested in 124 startups, trained 520 young people, created 161 jobs, incubated 61 start-ups, organized 120 networking events, and mentored 146 young people. These statistics testify to Harhub's significant impact on the local entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Melchior Koba
Cathy Chepkemboi is an enthusiastic entrepreneur dedicated to driving technological innovation in Africa. As the founder of Tushop, she has distinguished herself by delivering high-quality and practical solutions to Kenyan communities.
Cathy Chepkemboi (photo) is the founder and CEO of Tushop, a social commerce platform that enables group purchasing of fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG). Originally from Kenya, she graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2013 with a Bachelor's degree in International Relations.
In 2021, she launched Tushop, a platform that consolidates grocery orders within communities, securing wholesale prices for buyers and ensuring hassle-free last-mile delivery. Tushop aims to meet the growing demand for e-commerce services in Kenya and redefine the online shopping experience. It strives to deliver top-notch products at budget-friendly rates while establishing seamless connections between wholesalers and consumers.
Under the leadership of Cathy Chepkemboi, Tushop has enjoyed considerable success. In 2021, the company was selected for the "The Future is Female" mentoring program run by C. Moore Media International Public Relations (CMM) for African female tech founders.
In June 2023, Tushop was also selected for Google for Startups' Black Founders Fund in Africa, receiving up to $150,000 in non-dilutive grants, up to $200,000 in Google Cloud credits, advertising support, one-to-one mentoring by industry experts and invaluable connections within the Google network.
Cathy Chepkemboi's professional career began in 2014 at Unilever, where she was hired as Brand Assistant for Royco, a food company operating in the Kenyan market. Subsequently, she assumed roles such as Buying Marketing Analyst in the UK in 2016 and in Kenya from August 2017 to March 2018, along with a stint as Sales Manager in Kenya from January to July 2017. In 2018, she transitioned to Moko, a leading home furnishing product manufacturer and retailer, taking on the role of Head of Brand, Marketing, and Product Development until 2019.
Melchior Koba
As an entrepreneur and designer, he has founded multiple successful businesses, earning various awards and distinctions. Notably, he was mentioned in the Forbes Africa 30 under 30 list in 2019.
Evans Akanno (photo) is a Nigerian entrepreneur and designer. He is the founder and CEO of Vzy, a platform that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to automate the website creation process.
Evans Akanno studied electrical engineering at Imo State University, where he earned his bachelor's degree in 2009. Certified in 2018 by the Harvard Extension School in innovation and strategy, he also holds a master's degree in innovation and entrepreneurship (2022) from the University of California, Irvine.
Vzy was founded in 2021. Its flagship tool, suitable for everyone –even those with no coding skills– enables users to manage multiple websites from a single account. It also provides a mobile interface, allowing users to design and manage their websites right from their mobile devices. It offers Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology to secure websites, a Content Delivery Network (CDN) for faster loading times, and Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud hosting to guarantee reliable performance.
On October 5, 2023, Vzy was selected, along with 10 other startups, to join the Google for Startups Accelerator: AI First program. It will receive up to $350,000 in Google Cloud credits and access to Google's AI expertise and support.
Evans Akanno also works with incubators and accelerators to support startups and budding entrepreneurs. He is a mentor at Startup Grind Lagos and Startupbootcamp. Before Vzy, in 2015, he founded Cregital, a Nigeria-based company specializing in branding, UX/UI design, and web development. In 2019, he also co-founded Disha, an innovative tool that helps designers and freelancers receive international payments. The solution was acquired by Flutterwave in 2021.
Before entrepreneurship, the Nigerian entrepreneur worked as a brand marketing specialist for the e-commerce company Jumia from 2012 to 2013. In 2013, he joined Konga Online Shopping Ltd as a creative strategist. He worked there until 2014.
Throughout his career, he has received several awards for outstanding entrepreneurship. In October 2016, Cregital received the award for Best Website Development Company of the Year from the Nigeria Technology Awards. In 2019, Forbes Africa named Evans one of the 30 under 30 in the technology category. He was also listed among the 100 most influential young Nigerians by Avance Media.
Melchior Koba
Through its innovative programs and commitment to education and youth empowerment, Africa ICT Right aims to help build a digital future for Africa.
Founded in 2007 and led by CEO Daniel Kwaku Ganyoame, Africa ICT Right (AIR) is a Ghana-based non-profit organization dedicated to bridging the digital divide by building a more equitable and technologically advanced future for all. It uses information and communication technology (ICT) tools as a catalyst to address critical national issues related to agriculture, health, gender, education, and youth empowerment.
Through its education programs, it strives to improve access to ICT tools and the quality of the tools accessed by users by equipping schools with computer labs and training STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) teachers on how to integrate ICT into teaching and learning. It works with schools and communities in several regions to donate computers and set up ICT labs through the Iteach ICT, Computer 4 Change, and Connecting the Unconnected projects.
Its Girls in Tech program focuses on closing the gender gap in the technology sector by educating, inspiring, and equipping high school girls with coding and digital technology skills and resources so they can pursue opportunities in STEM fields.
Meanwhile, its agricultural program aims to enhance the skills of smallholder farmers by offering affordable, organic, and ecologically sustainable farming techniques. The organization also runs an entrepreneurship training program called the WeThrive Program.
The organization has set up over 4 digital labs and more than two STEM labs. It has already trained more than 798 young people, more than 69 entrepreneurs, and more than 226 teachers in over 105 schools. It has reached over 19,595 students and donated over 525 computers.
In recognition of its outstanding work, Africa ICT Right won the Motorola Solutions Foundation award in 2018 for its Girls in Tech program. In 2021, it was the winner of the best e-health company award at the Africa Technovate Awards.
Melchior Koba