TECH STARS (960)
iceaddis is a major player that is advancing tech innovation in Ethiopia. As a dynamic innovation hub, it offers a collaborative workspace, incubation programs, and a wealth of resources to support the country's entrepreneurs and innovators.
iceaddis is an Addis Ababa-based innovation and entrepreneurship center that is key in strengthening Ethiopia's tech ecosystem. It was founded in 2011 by three former GIZ (German Development Agency) staff in Ethiopia, namely Markos Lemma, Florian Manderscheid, and Oliver Petzoldt,
The heart of its ecosystem lies in its co-working space, an open environment where entrepreneurs, developers, and creatives can come together, share ideas, and collaborate on joint projects. The space fosters the creation of strong networks and stimulates entrepreneurship by offering practical support and mentoring opportunities.
In addition to the coworking space, iceaddis offers incubation programs to help start-ups turn their ideas into successful businesses. These programs offer personalized coaching, access to experienced mentors, and funding opportunities to help entrepreneurs get their businesses off the ground.
Its flagship program is ice180, a 180-day support program designed to enable high-potential entrepreneurs to start their businesses. The program aims to make startups investment-ready “with entrepreneurial knowledge skills, and a strong networking.”
iceaddis is also committed to defending the interests of technology start-ups. As one of the founding members of the i4policy community, it advocates innovative companies and start-up communities to policy-makers and regulators. The innovation center regularly organizes conferences, competitions, and hackathons, enabling participants to share knowledge, develop skills, win awards, and foster collaboration.
To date, it has supported over 190 entrepreneurs, accelerated 35 startups, and incubated 54 companies. It has also organized over 350 events, bootcamps, and hackathons in Ethiopia. The center works with local and international organizations as advisors on youth programs and joint project management in various sectors.
Melchior Koba
He is an outstanding software developer with over 14 years of experience in building software and web applications. In his home country, Tanzania, he set up an online bus ticket booking application.
Abraham Itule (photo) is a Tanzanian entrepreneur and computer scientist with a degree in Information Technology from Manchester University in 2012. In 2022, he founded Safiri App, a mobile app that allows users to buy bus tickets in Tanzania.
Safiri App connects transport operators and travelers, enabling customers to buy their travel tickets from the comfort of their home, office... It also provides travelers with real-time updates on the location of the means of transport and other transit information.
Safiri App users can also entrust parcels or goods to be conveyed by transport companies registered on the platform. For bus operators, the company offers a simple ticketing system that integrates mobile money and SMS.
Recently, the mobile app has been selected among the 12 African start-ups to attend the Africa Tech Summit in London on June 23. On this occasion, Abraham Itule will be speaking about public transport and logistics in Africa.
Safiri app was launched through Itule Limited, Abraham Itule’s software company. Besides his duties as the CEO of that software company, the tech entrepreneur is also the CTO of UK-based Hexis, which uses artificial intelligence to create a personalized nutrition plan to optimize the performance of athletes and coaches.
His professional career began in 2009 with Zippro System Ltd, where he worked as a programmer in the UK. Since then, he has worked as a developer, both back-end and front-end, at several institutions, including The Virtu Group, Spindrift, IBM, Cambridge University Press, Santander UK, and Instant Access Technologies. In 2021, he was a senior full-stack engineer at UK financial technology company Akrod.
Melchior Koba
For 10 years, he worked for two of Nigeria’s largest banks, handling operations and customer relations. He then moved into technology and founded one fintech company and an internet marketing agency.
Chibuike Goodnews (photo) is a Nigerian fintech entrepreneur who graduated from Ahmadu Bello University in 2015 with a master's in finance, and from the Lagos Business School, where he trained in entrepreneurship development. He is the co-founder and director of Astravest, a fintech company founded in 2021.
The company, co-founded with Joshua Chinemezu (a software engineer), offers savings and investment solutions that aim to empower users and help them achieve financial freedom. It gives Africans access to multiple investment options, the information they need to make decisions, and a simple platform to grow their money or move their funds between different sectors.
With just 5,000 naira, or around $10.5, users can invest in commodities, real estate, or fixed-income assets. Astravest enables companies to offer real estate investments as a service. It is sufficiently secure, and users have to go through a vetting process before making investments.
Apart from Astravest, Chibuike Goodnews also founded Dochase Adx, an internet marketing agency launched in 2016. Through that agency, he provides a full range of marketing solutions to help both large and small businesses attract sales and reach target markets online.
Before becoming an entrepreneur, he worked for United Bank for Africa (UBA) as a banking executive between 2005 and 2006 and as a customer relationship manager from 2013 to 2016. Between 2006 and 2013, he was in charge of banking operations at Zenith Bank in Nigeria.
Melchior Koba
In the booming African tech ecosystem, Orange Fab is emerging as a key player in promoting and supporting startups operating on the continent. It is committed to stimulating the African entrepreneurial ecosystem by providing technology start-ups with invaluable support.
Orange Fab is a network of corporate accelerators set up by the French telecom group Orange in 2012. Thanks to its extensive network of partners and strong relationships with local and international players in the technology industry, Orange Fab offers African start-ups a unique platform to develop their innovative ideas and propel their businesses to new heights.
Currently, there are 21 Orange Fabs across 4 continents, several of which are located in Africa: Senegal, Mali, Côte d'Ivoire, Cameroon, and Madagascar. They identify and support start-ups that focus on strategic technological fields such as artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things (IoT), cybersecurity, fintech, and many others.
They offer selected startups access to co-working spaces and a comprehensive ecosystem of seasoned experts, mentors, and advisors, who help selectees hone their ideas, develop their products, and successfully market them. Students in the Orange Fab accelerator program also have privileged access to major national and international events sponsored by Orange (VivaTech).
One of the most valuable advantages offered by Orange Fab is the opportunity to work closely with Orange, one of Africa's leading telecom operators. This collaboration enables start-ups to benefit from the company's expertise and infrastructure, as well as the credibility and reach of its network, to accelerate their development.
In addition, Orange Fab facilitates African start-ups' access to strategic sources of funding by putting them in touch with potential investors. Through pitches, demonstrations, and meetings with investors, start-ups present their innovative projects and attract the interest of investors looking for new opportunities in Africa.
Melchior Koba
Through its programs and events, the startup campus supports entrepreneurs in the development of products, services, and business models. With over 100 hosted, it is one of Africa's largest innovation hubs.
22 On Sloane is one of the largest startup campuses in Africa. The South Africa-based innovation hub is led by Kizito Okechukwu (Executive Director) with a team of entrepreneurs, mentors, scientists, managers, and investors. It offers high-impact start-ups and innovative small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), a complete turnkey solution for "scaling up", from initial idea to commercialization, funding opportunities, and access to markets and capital.
To encourage entrepreneurship and the development of new industries as well as contribute to job creation in Africa, it provides entrepreneurs with modern, large-scale coworking spaces equipped to stimulate creativity.
It also offers several programs to help founders progress on their entrepreneurial journey. The most important of these is the 22 On Sloane Incubation Program (designed for already-registered tech companies with less than $135,000 in sales) and the Catalytic Program, an acceleration program designed to help high-impact start-ups in Africa start, launch, market, and grow their businesses.
In addition to these programs, 22 On Sloane organizes events such as the Startup Huddle, during which players meet to discuss challenges, opportunities, and prospects in their respective sectors. The next Startup Huddle will take place on June 15, and discussions will revolve around the online food and grocery delivery industry.
Every six months, the campus publishes a Deal Book of the startups selected for its programs. It has launched over 20 programs and hosts more than 100 start-ups based at its Johannesburg site. To carry out its projects, it has signed partnerships with several institutions including Telkom, Microsoft, the World Bank Group, Venture Capital for Africa, African Business Angel Network, USAID, and the Global Entrepreneurship Network (GEN) Africa.
Melchior Koba
She leverages her expertise and experience in finance to contribute to economic and sustainable development initiatives on the African continent. Through Melanin Kapital, she provides financial support for Africa's green revolution.
Mélanie Keïta (photo) is a Franco-Congolese finance and investment expert. In 2020, she co-founded Melanin Kapital, a carbon financing platform that aims to become the leading fintech platform financing green transition in Africa.
Her Kenya-based financing platform funds the acquisition of clean energy equipment that SMEs need to grow and simultaneously reduce their carbon footprint. The equipment includes electric vehicles, renewable energy equipment, waste management facilities, and green kitchen equipment.
The platform empowers entrepreneurs by helping them access the capital they need to turn their idea into a business. It also trains and coaches them, focusing particularly on women and local entrepreneurs and promotes the use of digital tools.
Mélanie Keïta, who heads that platform as its CEO, is also the Head of Operations at Tuungane Foundation, the non-profit arm of Melanin Kapital that prepares SMEs to access credit and funding from its parent company and other lending partners. She is also a guest lecturer at ESCP Business School, where she graduated with a master's degree in development economics and international development in 2018.
The entrepreneur also holds a master's degree in finance and financial management services, from the ESSCA business school (2016) and an International Certificate in Corporate Finance from HEC Paris (2016).
Her professional career began, in 2015, as an intern in the SME finance department of France's Générale Electrique et Mesures Optiques (GEMO). Since then, she has worked for several finance and investment institutions such as Investisseurs et Partenaires (I & P), 2° Investing Initiative, and Finance in Motion.
A member of the NextGen committee of the 100 Women in Finance network of finance professionals, Mélanie Keïta was listed in Forbes magazine's 2021 Top 30 under 30. In 2022, she received the Top Africa award issued by GITEX, among others.
Melchior Koba
He is a successful entrepreneur and talented computer scientist with a proven track record in several tech companies. With Eden Life, he helps middle-class Africans find competent people to manage household chores.
Nadayar Enegesi (photo) is a Nigerian computer scientist who graduated from the University of Waterloo, Canada, with a Bachelor's degree in 2013. He is the CEO of Eden Life, a start-up he founded in 2019 with Prosper Otemuyiwa.
His startup was born out of both his and his co-founder’s desire to improve the quality of life of middle-class individuals. In Nigeria and Kenya, the startup connects people who provide services such as laundry, cleaning, catering, and equipment maintenance with those in need.
“Eden is the single platform for all domestic services. It's a superior answer to the question of an inferior lifestyle. If you’ve ever wanted to be done with house chores or wanted better services for things like your laundry, meals, house cleaning, maintenance, etc, then you have silently prayed for Eden,” Nadayar Enegesi writes on his Linkedin profile.
The same Linkedin profile informs that prior to founding Eden Life, in 2014, Nadayar Enegesi co-founded Andela, an engineering platform that helps companies build remote teams quickly and affordably. He was also the director of Launchpad, Andela's in-house incubator from January 2018 to April 2019. Still, at Andela, Nadayar Enegesi was the Director of Learning and Development as well as the Director of Engineering and Training.
In 2013, the tech entrepreneur co-founded Fora, a marketplace for North American online courses targeted mainly at African students and emerging professionals. Nadayar Enegesi was the company's CTO until June 2014.
The computer scientist has worked as an IT developer for several technology companies such as Phoenix Interactive, BBS Securities Inc, and MKS. He was OpenText's quality assurance automation specialist in 2011. Between 2015 and 2016, he was an Udacity code reviewer.
Melchior Koba
The Baobab Network is one of Africa's leading accelerators. It supports tech start-ups by providing mentoring, acceleration, networking, and funding to help them grow and have a positive impact on their communities.
The Baobab Network is an accelerator that supports the best tech start-ups in Africa, providing entrepreneurs with funding, support and a global platform to grow their businesses.
Founded in Kenya, in 2015, by British Toom Fairburn and Toby Hanington, the accelerator invests up to $50,000 in early-stage tech companies. It has developed a unique, intensive program to ensure the success of each start-up that goes through its training. Each of the startups has access to a network of experts, mentors, corporate partners, and investors to grow their businesses.
Its acceleration program begins with two weeks of intensive consulting to address the most pressing challenges faced by founders, followed by 12 weeks of practical support for founders, during which an acceleration plan is created for each startup.
The acceleration program takes place remotely so that founders are not kept away from their companies for too long. Registrations for the next cohort of the program are already open.
The Baobab Network’s partners offer their expertise and services, run pilot projects, and explore early business partnerships. They also provide grants as well as equity and debt funding to the startups selected by the accelerator.
Over the past five years, The Baobab Network has worked more than 10,000 hours alongside budding entrepreneurs in Africa. Its portfolio of supported start-ups includes advertising agency Adafri, on-demand warehousing company Afrigility, and Alerzo, a platform that empowers retailers.
Melchior Koba
She studied civil engineering and urban planning. After working with various logistics companies, she founded her own company, Jumba, to solve construction challenges in Africa.
Kagure Wamunyu (photo) is the co-founder and CEO of construction tech startup Jumba. The Kenyan-born entrepreneur studied engineering at North Carolina State University, graduating with a Bachelor's in Civil Engineering. She also holds a bachelor's in mathematics from Meredith College (2013) and a doctorate in sustainable urban development from Oxford University (2022)
In 2022, she co-founded (with Miano Njoka) the construction tech company Jumba to ease the supply of building materials. The startup developed a business-to-business platform that seamlessly integrates the building materials supply chain, offering not only a marketplace for building materials manufacturers and suppliers but also a single, reliable source of materials for hardware stores and construction companies. It ensures item delivery and transparency, enabling customers to track their deliveries in real time. The goods marketed on the platform are affordable, as Jumba makes sure that buyers pay no extra charges.
In February 2023, the start-up raised $4.5 million to further expand in Kenya. "Kenya will remain our core market, the opportunity is massive here. We plan to scale in this market to acquire more customers before we explore the next market," said Kagure Wamunyu at the time.
The latter, apart from leading Jumba, is also the co-owner of Lava Latte, a women-run café that offers a conducive space for work meetings and relaxation. Before founding her company in 2022, she was the Global Chief Operating Officer of Kobo 360, a pan-African technology logistics company.
In 2015, she joined Uber Kenya where she worked, for two years successively as Operations Manager and Country Manager. In 2017, she was hired by Bridge International Academies as Senior Strategy Director in East Africa.
In 2018, she made it to the Business Daily Africa’s list of the top 40 Under 40 women.
Melchior Koba
AfriLabs is an organization that promotes collaboration, knowledge sharing, and partnerships in the African tech ecosystem. It has one of the largest networks of innovation centers on the continent.
Networking organization AfriLabs was founded in 2011 to support African tech hubs by providing funding, mentorship, networking opportunities, and capacity-building resources for high-potential entrepreneurs. Led by ecosystem builder Anna Ekeledo, it has a network of 419 innovation centers in 52 African countries.
It offers capacity-building services for entrepreneurs, supports research, and organizes events and programs, among other things. It also provides coworking spaces and office space for entrepreneurs. Some of the programs it organizes include Catalytic Africa, an initiative launched in collaboration with the African Business Angels Network (ABAN) to build the skills of entrepreneurs, start-ups, hubs, and angel investors.
AfriLabs also supports initiatives like the Global EdTech Hub, a program funded by the Foreign Commonwealth and Development Office, the World Bank, and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to improve education technologies in developing countries.
Each year, AfriLabs organizes the AfriLabs Annual Gathering, which brings together leaders of innovation centers and ecosystem builders on the continent. The annual convention enables all players to learn more about the prospects in the business sectors covered. This year's gathering will take place in Kigali from October 11 to 13.
For its activities, AfriLabs has a wealth of partners including Facebook, Mozilla, GIZ, the French Development Agency, IBM, AfriHive, the World Bank, the Rockefeller Foundation, TechCabal, Google, the Ford Foundation, InfoDev, and Intel.
Melchior Koba
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He has over 12 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. As the co-founder and CEO of healthtech Pharmacy Marts, he transforms and modernizes the Egyptian health sector.
Ahmed Kadous (photo) is an Egyptian pharmacist who graduated from Cairo University in 2009 with a Bachelor's in Pharmaceutical Sciences. He also holds a master's in marketing from the Arab Academy of Science, Technology and Maritime Transport, which he obtained in 2011, and is the CEO of healthtech startup Pharmacy Marts.
He co-founded Pharmacy Marts, in 2021, with Haitham El-Ghotni, a senior business development and sales professional. His healthtech startup provides a digital marketplace connecting pharmacies and medical suppliers, facilitating the acquisition of medicines, medical supplies, and cosmetics.
Pharmacy Marts enables medical suppliers to list their products and offers online, allowing pharmacists to check them out, compare their prices, and source for the best deals. The startup also works with financial institutions to enable pharmacists to increase their income through BNPL (buy now, pay later) financing. Recently, it was nominated at the pre-selection event for the third edition of Egypt's Entrepreneur Awards. Ranked in the "Digital Solutions and Customer Experience Awards" category, Pharmacy Marts has been recognized as one of the country's top start-ups that transform and modernize the pharmaceutical industry.
Ahmed Kadous, one of the men who made it possible, debuted his professional career in 2009, as a Pfizer medical representative. In 2012, he joined Novartis as Executive Medical Representative. In his 9 years with the company, he successively held the positions of Marketing Manager, Market Access Manager, and Pricing Manager.
In 2021, he was appointed Patient Value Access Therapeutic Area Manager for Takeda, a pharmaceutical manufacturing company. He was also responsible for the company's market access.
Thanks to Pharmacy Marts, in 2022, Ahmed Kadous was awarded the prize for the best start-up in North Africa issued by Africa Arena. In 2023, his company was named one of the 15 most promising healthtech start-ups in Africa at the AfricaTech Awards. He also received the Outstanding Leadership Award at the Health 2.0 conference, and Pharmacy Marts received the Best Series A Start-up Award from Africa Arena.
Melchior Koba
More than an academy or an incubator, MEST Africa is a large community catalyzing tech entrepreneurship in Africa. It is committed to innovation to build a promising tech ecosystem on the continent.
In the rapidly growing African tech landscape, MEST Africa is undoubtedly one of the notable incubators and communities advancing things. Founded in 2008 by Jorn Lyseggen, founder of the Meltwater Foundation, it trains and supports the most promising technology entrepreneurs, opening up new avenues for innovation and economic growth.
It is based in Accra, with centers in Lagos, Cape Town, and Nairobi. It is all by itself an Africa-wide technology entrepreneur training program, an in-house seed fund, and a network of incubation centers for African tech startups. It provides African technology entrepreneurs with technology training, financing, and support in software development and business and communications.
MEST Africa's year-long training program is designed to create an immersive, hands-on learning experience. Students are exposed to a balanced combination of theoretical courses, practical projects, and company internships. Its members have access to a global network of experts knowledgeable in subjects like sales, engineering, marketing, and more.
As an incubator, it supports graduates who have successfully convinced its Board of Directors of the prospects of their startups. These graduates receive seed funding and are allowed to access a collaborative workspace and experienced mentors to guide them through their entrepreneurial journey.
The tech entrepreneurship support agency also regularly organizes, in collaboration with its partners (GIZ, Amazon Web Services, Microsoft, Samsung, Mastercard, and Impact Lab, among others), events, conferences, and workshops to foster collaboration, knowledge sharing, and networking opportunities between entrepreneurs, investors, and industry professionals. One of its initiatives is Edtech Monday, a weekly show broadcasted live on Facebook and on CITI FM (Ghana) every Monday.
MEST Africa's impact has an undeniable impact on the African tech ecosystem. Since its creation, it has trained over 1,000 tech entrepreneurs and financed more than 80 companies, helping create over 750 jobs on the continent. It boasts support to startups in sectors like e-commerce, agritech, fintech, healthcare technology, edtech, AI, and more.
The next cohort of its training program, consisting of 60 students as usual, will start in August 2023.
Melchior Koba
As the CEO of a company specializing in application development, artificial intelligence, and connected devices, he creates practical technological solutions for people. His latest innovation is a tracking bracelet that enables Muslim pilgrims to always find their way around Mecca.
On May 25, 2023, Guinean tech company Continental SOFT unveiled a new GPS tracking bracelet specifically designed for Muslim pilgrims. The product, called Smart Hajj 2.0, uses cutting-edge technologies such as GPS, QR codes, mobile connectivity, and advanced tracking algorithms to prevent users from getting lost while performing the annual Islamic pilgrimage (Hajj). It is made from nylon and plastic, making it resistant to bad weather.
"Each pilgrim is equipped with a discreet, lightweight, and easy-to-wear tracking device, which continuously transmits his or her geographical position. A mobile application also tracks the pilgrim’s moves. If lost, the latter can simply flash the QR code to instantly check the guide” and get the route to take, explained Mohamed Souaré, the brain behind the innovative product and founder/CEO of Continental SOFT.
Apart from Smart Hajj 2.0, the Guinean innovator has developed several tech products. They include Smart désinfectant - Covid-19, a disinfection tunnel designed to combat the spread of the coronavirus pandemic. He is also behind Calculatrice N'ko, a calculator using the N’Ko alphabetic script, and Smart School, an intelligent machine capable of detecting students’ location and informing parents in real-time. In 2020, thanks to Continental SOFT, he was awarded the Katala Award issued by Covid Hero.
Melchior Koba
The incubator encourages and supports businesses that solve socioeconomic problems in their communities. It particularly focuses on women-led or owned businesses.
Wennovation Hub is a start-up incubator and accelerator working to create high-impact businesses. It was established in 2010, in Nigeria, and officially opened in 2011 to help achieve sustainable development in Africa by encouraging youth innovation.
Born of a partnership between venture capital firm LoftInc Capital Management and the non-profit organization Africa Leadership Forum, its role is to train innovators through tailor-made programs that turn ideas into successful businesses. It focuses on high-impact sectors such as education, agriculture, healthcare, clean energy, and infrastructure, among others, and emphasizes job creation in its programs.
It also offers modern coworking spaces at its three Nigerian campuses based in Ibadan, Lagos, and Abuja. The spaces are equipped with the essential technical tools that bright minds need to come up with business ideas. It also offers office space to entrepreneurs and founders, small and medium-sized enterprises, middle managers, freelancers, and creative artists.
In November 2022, the incubator announced its expansion outside Africa, starting with Barbados. In partnership with youth empowerment organization The Next Economy, it recently launched an incubation program targetting early-stage companies founded or co-founded by women.
To date, Wennovation Hub has supported over 450 start-up teams and more than 150 women-led businesses, creating more than 12,500 jobs in the process. They include Asusu, which promotes the digitization and financial inclusion of cooperatives, and Afrimash, which is an online destination for farmers looking for poultry, fish, and livestock.
Its partners include AfriLabs, LoftInc Group, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, Lagos Angel Network, Emory University, Total Energy, and the University of Ibadan.
Melchior Koba