TECH STARS (960)
After more than 10 years in the publishing industry, he entered the digital marketing field, creating and running several firms. Fraxeum, one of his ventures, leverages blockchain technology to promote financial inclusion.
South African serial entrepreneur Barry Tuck (photo) is the co-founder and director of Fraxeum, a blockchain technology built “for financial institutions, Web3 applications, and IoT systems that need a fast, transaction fee-free blockchain.”
According to the director, Fraxeum (founded in 2019) “essentially [...] tokenizes equity in any kind of asset – real world or digital, traditional or alternative, enabling fractionalization of equity into millions of micro-shares.”
“On top of the blockchain we have developed a range of fintech solutions that facilitate simple customer KYC, AML, and onboarding, direct fiat deposits and withdrawals, a secondary OTC desk for resale of micro-shares, and much more,” he added in December 2022.
Barry is also the director and co-founder of Ûs The Movement (a collective of artists, designers, riders, and makers), marketing agency SwiftX, and crowdfunding platform AZUZA. He is the director of plastic waste processor Infinite Industries, Global Crypto (a community of blockchain and crypto enthusiasts and Sirvis Pro, a platform that connects services providers to buyers.
In 2008, he co-founded creative digital agency Gorilla Creative Media and, some eight years later, he also cofounded startup accelerator Three One Combinator. His professional career started in 1994, in the publishing industry where he was first a photographer, then a photojournalist, an editor, and even a production manager.
He later entered the digital marketing industry, working as the managing director of Paton Tupper Digital, between 2013 and 2019. Between 2020 and 2022, he was the global marketing director of Affinity Group, a holding of eight firms based in South Africa and the UK. On SpeakerHub, he explains that he has spoken “at dozens of conferences for organizations like Unilever, Shell, RE/MAX, Radius Solutions Group, BRICS, Digital Day as well as several teachers associations, chambers of commerce and entrepreneur clubs.”
Melchior Koba
The serial entrepreneur has launched several tech solutions. He is one of the business leaders who are developing the Zimbabwean tech sector.
Tendai Elvis Mugovi (photo) is a Zimbabwean serial entrepreneur. As the founder and CEO of Mugonat Systems, he develops innovative software for Africans.
Mugonat Systems, founded in 2015, is a software company based in Harare, Zimbabwe. It develops Android and iOS apps as well as SMS, chatbots, and USSD systems for the health, management, and finance sectors, among others.
Some of the software developed by the company include Finmaze HMS (Health management system) which is a health management system for small to large healthcare facilities, and Cashlinq which is a digital banking wallet designed for African financial institutions.
Elvis is also the chief technology officer of fintech company Panamax which helps SMEs access working capital, through crowdfunding.
In December 2022, while explaining the reason he created Panamax, he said: “there is an extremely high cost of borrowing for SMEs due to their perceived risk and lack of a credit record and a high lag time between the time of need and time of capital provisioning. This affects SMEs’ agility in responding to immediate market needs."
The serial entrepreneur is also the director of healthtech platform DocOnline Africa, edtech startup Smart360°, and agritech eMudhumeni. Besides his entrepreneurial career, he has years of professional experience in both the startup ecosystem and the tech industry.
In 2015, he joined the Zimbabwean company Expert Decision Systems (XDS) as a software developer. From March 2016 to June 2017, he worked for the innovation hub and accelerator rubiem Group as the manager. The following year, he was hired by C2 Media Pty Ltd as a Full Stack software engineer. Then, in 2019, he became the CEO of rubiem Innovations, where he worked till May 2021.
Melchior Koba
After six years of professional experience, he ventured into entrepreneurship. Right from France where he spent almost all of his life, the Cameroonian-born entrepreneur trains young Africans in digital professions and supports them in their job hunt or their self-employment bids.
Douglas Mbiandou (photo) is a Cameroonian-born entrepreneur who has been living in France since he was seven. Right from his base in France, he founded the non-profit association 10 000 CODEURS (10000 coders) whose goal is to train ten thousand coders by 2025.
In 2017, Douglas revealed that the Lyon-based non-profit institution was launched, in 2015, when he carried out a consulting mission for the Congolese government. “The ambition is to train 10,000 mobile and web developers between 2015 and 2025,” he stressed.
His institution operates in Francophone Africa and in France. It facilitates the professional integration of millions of people by retraining and giving them the skills needed for digital professions and entrepreneurship.
10 000 CODEURS provides its young members with digital education. Its training platform offers more than 800 videos on digital usage, technologies, and jobs, among others. It also has more than 450 webinars.
Before 10000 codeurs, in 2005, in France, he founded OBJIS, a firm that trains and supports young Africans in software design. With that firm, which equips startup founders with operational skills, he has already trained over 3,000 programmers. Since 2021, he is the president of Aurafrica a network that facilitates relations between entrepreneurs operating in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes and those residing in Africa. Before his entrepreneurial journey, he spent five years (2001-2007) working as an application engineer for the IT firm Capgemini.
Melchior Koba
She is an experienced business leader and successful entrepreneur. Her impact on the African tech ecosystem earned her an appointment as the head of the new accelerator program launched by Techstars, one of the world's largest investors.
Oyin Solebo (photo) is a Nigerian entrepreneur and investment manager. In October 2022, the economics graduate and MBA holder was appointed managing director of ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator, an acceleration program launched by Techstars and Lagos-based innovation hub ARM Labs a few months earlier.
The acceleration program she now heads aims to support fintech and proptech startups whose products are destined for African consumers. Its 3-month maiden cohort is scheduled to start in January 2023.
“Whilst talent is equally distributed, the opportunity is not. Nowhere is this more obvious than on the African continent. The ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator furthers Techstars’ mission to support entrepreneurs everywhere and give startups the capital and opportunities they need to succeed, regardless of their location or background - and I’m honoured to be leading it,” Oyin Solebo said after her appointment as the head of the new acceleration program.
Before that appointment, she co-founded (in 2014 ) Movemeback, a Google-backed technology platform that connects a global community of leaders, influencers, talent, and organizations to unique, exclusive, and exciting high-potential opportunities in Africa.
In 2013, she co-founded Agonyapp, an anonymous relationship advice app. However, her professional career began in 2004 at Goldman Sachs where she was an investment associate. In 2010, she joined the management consulting firm Roland Berger as a strategy consultant. From 2011 to 2020, she worked as the managing director of European Family Offices.
In 2021,the entrepreneur participated in the Google for Startups black founder immersion program and this year, she took part in the London & Partners' Business Growth Programme.
Melchior Koba
The tech entrepreneur has experience in a wide range of sectors including finance and banking, education, and technology. With his edtech Zeraki, he develops tech solutions to improve the quality of education in Africa.
Isaac Nyangolo (photo) is a Kenyan entrepreneur and the co-founder/CEO of edtech firm Zeraki which offers innovative tools to make teaching and learning effective, engaging, and productive.
The flagship product of that edtech (founded in 2014) is Zeraki Analytics. It transforms the way educational data is collected, analyzed, and used. Another product, Zeraki Learning, provides a platform to learn from highly experienced teachers, get tested, and track performance. The third product, Zeraki Touch, is a foolproof biometric system that allows for efficient tracking of daily school operations.
In early December, Isaac Nyangolo raised US$1.8 million in seed funding in a round led by Acumen Fund to expand the startup's product catalog and continue its regional expansion. "We plan on building more administrative tools for schools, and payment products on the parents’ side. We have also brought back focus on [the once dormant] digital learning platform, and tested a number of products like timetabling.[...]We’re expanding first into the regions that we understand and have similar business environments with. We plan on first moving into the entire East Africa community and then exploring the Anglophone region," Isaac said.
Currently, he is the chairperson of the Harvard Club of Kenya and a member of the board of the data analytics firm Superfluid Labs. He is also a member of the advisory board of the Kenyan chapter of non-profit organization Education For All Children. He entered the professional world in 2007, as a planning and design engineer for home entertainment operator Wananchi Online.
In 2009, he joined Citibank N.A. as a clearing assistant before landing at Equity Bank Ltd as a marketing analyst. He was later appointed program manager for the Nairobi-based Equity Group Foundation.
Melchior Koba
The serial entrepreneur streamlines data management to improve businesses’ decision-making. His data automation solution has attracted huge funding.
Martin Naude (photo) is a South African computer scientist and the founder/CEO of Synatic, a modern data automation platform developed for businesses.
The platform, founded in 2019, combines an on-demand integration platform (iPaaS), Enterprise Service Bus (ESB) software, Extraction, Transformation, and Loading (ETL) process, and API management into a simple, yet powerful tool. It makes it easy to solve complex data problems quickly.
After a seed funding round in early 2021, it raised an additional US$2.5 million in an extension round in December 2022. Thanks to the funds raised, it plans to “expand its market reach in the United States in preparation for Series A funding in 2023.”
“Synatic’s integration and automation platform is already gaining ground in multiple international markets. With this additional seed money, we can bring a new focus to the U.S. market, expanding our sales and marketing program and recruiting new reseller and developer partners,” said Martin Naude.
In 2017, the latter founded FilePounder, a modern integration platform and ETL tool that makes integration, processing, and data manipulation easy. Between 2015 and 2016, he was the CEO of Encentivize, an employee reward, recognition, and engagement platform that provides companies with the tools to create high-performing organizations.
His professional career began in 2001 when he joined the tech company Simplexity as the director of development.
In 2004, he worked for the software development company Sage as Development Manager (VIP Corporate). In 2005, he became the managing director of the IT services and consulting company Entelect. Some six years later, he was director of new technologies in the same company.
Melchior Koba
The tech entrepreneur is specialized in the e-commerce segment. The platform he developed connects small merchants to e-commerce services in the Middle East and North Africa region.
Waleed Rashed (photo) is an Egyptian entrepreneur and the Founder/CEO of SIDEUP, a platform offering smart solutions to MSMEs specialized in the e-commerce sector.
SIDEUP was founded in 2008. Formerly known as VOO, it was launched to meet all the needs of e-commerce entrepreneurs, from local and international logistics support to warehousing services and a comprehensive real-time dashboard for performance analysis. It integrates a partner account manager and the best tech tools like Zammit, Wuilt, Paymob Aramex, and DHL used in the MENA region.
In early December 2022, the startup, which already serves 2,000 e-commerce businesses, raised US$1.2 million for its expansion. It also entered Saudi Arabia where it is now headquartered.
"SideUp is for the merchants in the village, or those selling products over Instagram, Facebook, or WhatsApp. They get accessibility to all the services starting from the courier company, warehousing, and fulfillment, to marketing services," Waleed Rashed said after the fundraising round.
Apart from SideUp, Waleed Rashed has founded Ingez, a company assisting users in their various errands, from grocery shopping to clothing drop-off. From 2013 to 2016, he led the errand-running firm as the CEO.
His professional career started in 2007 at the First Abu Dhabi Bank where he was a sales representative. In 2008, he joined the Al Khalij Commercial Bank as a sales team leader.
Melchior Koba
She is one of the leading women in the African cybersecurity industry. Through CyberSafe Foundation, she raises awareness on how to stay cyber-safe. For her impact on the continent, she has already received several awards and recognitions.
Confidence Staveley (photo) is a Nigerian cybersecurity expert. She graduated from Middlesex University, in 2011, with a BSc in information technology and Business information systems. In 2013, she got a Master’s in IT management from the University of Bradford.
In 2019, she founded Cybersafe Foundation, an NGO that raises promotes changes (through awareness campaigns and training) for a safer internet for African users.
Recently, through the #NoGoFallMaga initiative, the organization launched cybersecurity awareness campaigns that reached over 20 million people. It also organized cybersecurity training reaching more than 4,000 small and medium-sized businesses and over 9,000 employees. The NGO also launched the first cybersecurity awareness handbook in Africa.
“We were looking at really innovative ways to drive awareness about cybersecurity and making people see the importance in the first place and how it applies to them as individuals. And helping them take actionable steps to become safer online, but we’re doing it in a way that’s not overwhelming,” Confidence Staveley said in June 2022, explaining the reasons behind the campaign.
Since August 2022, the cybersecurity expert, who calls herself a “cyber evangelist”, is a member of the Forbes Technology Council. She entered the professional world, in 2009, as a computer instructor at Eastern Data Services Ltd. In 2011, she was hired as an IT Assistant by the Cross River State Government.
She later joined Lloyds Banking Group as a customer service advisor and telephone banking consultant. In 2013, she joined the Calabar International Convention Centre as an IT specialist and, two years later, she landed at InfoGraphics Nigeria, where she was appointed technical marketing and interactive media manager.
Between 2016 and 2018, she was a cybersecurity analyst for UIC Innovations Africa. A year later, she became the country manager of the computer security firm DIGISS. Concurrently, from 2017 to 2022, she worked as a part-time managing partner of the marketing firm Gidinerd.
Ms. Staveley is a multiple award winner. She has been cited on CIO Magazine’s 2021-2022 list of Africa’s 45 most influential women in Digital Transformation. the Cyber Security Expert Association of Nigeria (CSEAN) also named her the 2022 Cyber Security Woman of the Year and she received the Meridian Global Leadership Award at the Global Leadership Summit for her positive impacts. This year, she also made it to the list of the top 100 Most Inspiring Women in Nigeria and received the Obama Leader's Personal Commitment Award.
Melchior Koba
After her computer science studies, she specialized in the agribusiness industry by helping rural women. Her social contribution and tech impact earned her several awards and recognitions.
Awa Caba (photo) is a Senegalese computer scientist and the co-founder/CEO of the e-commerce platform Soreetul.
In Wolof -the most-spoken language in Senegal, Soreetul means “it is no longer far” according to a dissertation by Senegalese Dphil Layire Diop. The digital platform created by Awa Caba facilitates the marketing and distribution of agricultural products processed by women in Senegal. Founded in 2013 -2014 according to other sources, it connects rural farmers, women notably, with buyers in urban areas.
In 2015, explaining what prompted her to launch Soreetul, Awa indicated that it was founded because the co-founders noticed that local products were seldom found in large stores or neighboring shops while women who process such products had no access to markets because they live in remote areas.
Apart from Soreetul, Awa Caba has also co-founded Yeesal Agri Hub, an innovative entrepreneurship support institution specializing in agribusiness. In December 2022, the institution founded in 2016, was selected to be part of the Rural Impacting Entrepreneurship program developed by Small Foundation and Village Capital.
She also co-founded Jiggen Tech Hub, the first women-in-tech network in Senegal. Since 2013, she is the Co-founder and IT manager of the web and mobile app development startup Weltima. Her professional career began in 2012 as an IT engineer at Nelam Services. She worked as a consultant for International Fund for Agricultural Development in 2014, USAID-ERA (Education and Research in Agriculture) project from June to August 2017, and FAO from February to December 2017.
The Mandela Washington Fellow has received several awards and honors. In 2020, she won the African Women's Leadership Award. In 2018, she won the Bank of Africa's African Entrepreneurship Award. She was also cited by “Forbes Africa as one of the most promising entrepreneurs under the age of 30 in Africa.”
Melchior Koba
He began his career providing tech assistance for educational projects and programs. For over 10 years, through BongoHive, he has worked with entrepreneurs and development partners to foster youth entrepreneurship.
Lukonga Lindunda (photo) is a Zambian start-up ecosystem builder and the co-founder/CEO of BongoHive Technology and Innovation Hub, Zambia’s first tech innovation center.
Thanks to the innovation hub, he supports the startup ecosystem by improving leadership skills, accelerating their growth, strengthening networks, increasing collaboration, providing a forum for the exchange of ideas, and reducing barriers to entrepreneurship.
Since its inception, BongoHive has hosted over 500 events, supported over 2,000 businesses, and benefited more than 9,500 people. In December 2022, it was selected to participate in Small Foundation and Village Capital’s Rural Impacting Entrepreneurship research project.
In 2015, its CEO and co-founder also co-founded BongoHive Consult, a consulting firm that helps businesses meet their clients’ current and future needs. In 2019, he also co-founded Hive Coworking, which provides coworking space for entrepreneurs and startups.
Since 2021, he is a non-executive director of the fintech company Digital Shared Services Ltd. Months earlier, he became the chairperson of the non-profit financial organization FSD Zambia’s Program Investment Committee (PIC). Since June 2020, he is also the non-executive director and vice chairman of Client Care Solutions Limited, a business process outsourcing company.
The serial entrepreneur entered the professional world in 2008 working for the non-profit organization Education Development Center as an IT and communication coordinator. The following year, he became the ICT technical assistant of the non-profit organization VVOB - education for development.
From 2010 to 2012, he was successively Junior ICT Advisor and ICT Program Advisor of VVOB. Between March 2021 and August 2022, he was an independent advisor to the Technology, Service Delivery, and Innovation Committee of the Zambia National Commercial Bank (Zanaco) Board of Directors.
A Mandela Washington Fellow in 2014, Lukonga Lindunda received the Nelson Mandela University Alumni Award in 2017 for his impact on society with BongoHive. In 2020, he received the ALUSB MBA Chairman's Scholarship, which celebrates African business leaders who have proven themselves as leaders both in the workplace and in the community.
Melchior Koba
More...
Through Snode Technologies, the experienced cybersecurity consultant has developed several cybersecurity tools, receiving international honors and awards.
Nithen Naidoo (photo) is a South African computer scientist who graduated from the University of Pretoria in 2002. He is the founder and CEO of computer security and networking company Snode Technologies, based in Johannesburg, South Africa.
Snode Technologies -founded in 2016- is a cloud-based cybersecurity platform. Its algorithms process dynamic data -audio, video, and text- in real-time to help analysts identify behavioral trends, anomalies, and patterns that were previously impossible to identify with the naked eye.
“Snode was created to gain insight into prevailing patterns, not visible to the human eye, allowing our users to identify attacks before they happen,” Nithen Naidoo said in 2021.
The said startup has more than 80 points of presence worldwide. It offers three services, namely Snode Guard, Snode Guardian, and Snode Panthera.
Snode Guard provides automatic protection against threats such as malware, ransomware, phishing, and disinformation. Snode Guardian provides valuable information about cybersecurity risks or threats that may be prevalent in a said environment to prevent cyberattacks. Meanwhile, Snode Panthera disables attacks and defends vulnerable systems with its real-time automated response system.
Its founder is the winner of the 2019 MEST Africa Challenge. He is also the winner of the SA Innovation Summit 2020, the national finalist of the 2020 Entrepreneurship World Cup, and a finalist of the 2020 Pitch Live competition organized by Disrupt Africa and Africa Tech Summit. In 2021, he received the AfricArena Emerging Entrepreneur Award. His cybersecurity firm was selected among Slingshot 2020’s top 100 global deep tech startups. It was also a finalist for the AppsAfrica 2020 Innovation Award.
The honors and awards crown a professional career that started in 2003 when he joined Orange Cyberdefense as a penetration tester. From 2005 to 2007, he was a senior security consultant for Deloitte. In 2007, he joined the financial services firm Investec as a senior security analyst. Then, in 2009, Absa Group hired him as a senior security architect.
Melchior Koba
The serial entrepreneur runs several businesses in the USA and Côte d’Ivoire. With Seekewa, his latest venture, he wants to build a new food system in Africa.
Fred Zamblé (photo) is an Ivorian entrepreneur. He is also the co-founder and CEO of Seekewa, a startup he launched in 2016 with his brother Serge. With Seekewa, he wants to improve the food supply while at the same time ensuring smallholder farmers have better incomes. Indeed, on its online platform, Seekewa brings together organizations and individuals (known as supporters), and farmers with small projects. The “supporters” can support projects presented by farmers by purchasing redeemable e-vouchers that give them discounts on food products.
“We propose a socio-economic model based on the direct relationship between consumers and farmers. The commitment on the platform is free of charge for the contributors and the farmers. Seekewa addresses both the living conditions of farmers in rural areas and the improvement of the purchasing power of the lower and middle classes through a circular economy,” Fred told Disrupt Africa in 2019.
Apart from Seekewa, the former MEST Africa Challenge participant also co-founded, in 2014, Digicraft LLC, a Delaware-based company he heads as the CEO. From 2015 to date, he is a photo evangelist for Fotowalk City in Côte d’Ivoire. In 2005, he co-founded the digital agency Neuropixels Inc., where he is serving as the CEO. A year earlier, he entered the professional world as a UX developer and designer at Atemis Business Cloud, a US software development company. From 2016 to 2014, he was an Adobe West Africa user group manager.
Melchior Koba
After his mechatronics and robotics studies in the UK, he went back to Mali, his home country, to vulgarize the then-little-known mechatronics industry. The company he built for that purpose has been growing by the day since then.
Abdoulaye Diakité (photo) is a Malian mechatronics, robotics, and automation engineer who graduated from Kingston University in the UK in 2014. He is also the founder and CEO of Diakité Robotics Ltd, a robotics company founded in 2014.
Through that company, he offers robotics, mechatronics, electromechanical, smart security, and physical security solutions engineering services. He also develops solutions for home automation, metrology and rapid prototyping, and bust sculpting.
"Diakité Robotics is a mechatronics company created in 2014 to vulgarize mechatronics -which is the synergistic and systemic combination of mechanics, electronics, automation, and real-time computing- in Mali, but also in the entire sub-region," said Abdoulaye Diakité in an interview with maliweb.net in 2020.
During the Covid-19 pandemic, his company developed Sania Blon, an individual disinfection tunnel that emits a bactericidal and virucidal decontamination product. The solution helps disinfect passers-by without harming their health, their clothes, and their personal belongings. It was intended for use by the most-frequented companies and institutions like banks, hospitals, industries, and government institutions.
The CEO also plans to create the prototype of a submarine that can support the marine brigades operating across the Niger River. He is also designing an autonomous electric scooter and 3D-printed bionic hand and shin prostheses.
Before launching Diakité Robotics Ltd, from 2008 to late 2012, he worked for Malian firm Voice Communication SA, as a technical support engineer. In March 2022, he won the Best Young Entrepreneur Brand Award at the first Mali Brand Week. In 2014, he wrote the engineering paper “CAN Bus Based Systems Teaching Using Electronic Rapid Prototyping,” which was presented at the World Conference on Technological and Engineering Education (WCTEE) in Greece.
Melchior Koba
With formal training in information technology and banking and finance, she helps entrepreneurs fulfill their ambition. Apart from being a business advisor, she also runs a startup incubator.
Zeinebou Abdeljelil (photo) is a Mauritanian tech entrepreneur and a financial management consultant. She holds two master's degrees, one in banking and financial support services from IFID in Tunisia and the other in business and IT from ISG in Tunisia. She also completed a six-week program on entrepreneurship at the University of Notre Dame’s Mendoza College of Business in the United States.
With a firm belief that innovation and digital technologies have the potential to drive sustainable and inclusive growth in Africa, she co-founded – in 2014- Hadina RIMTIC, the first incubator focused on ICTs in Mauritania. Through her incubator, she organizes pitch competitions (MauriApp Challenge or the entrepreneurship marathon) and, to date she has supported more than 100 projects in the field of digital, livestock feed production, natural compost, and solar energy equipment.
“ There is a need to build the capacity of entrepreneurs in Mauritania, whether it is in the ideation of their projects, in the financial and day-to-day management of their start-ups, or in building their resilience to shocks,” she said earlier this year.
In 2015, she also co-founded IKLAAA Consulting, an agency aimed at building entrepreneurs’ capacities with strategic counseling and management advice. Apart from her entrepreneurship career, the Mandela Washington Fellowship Alumni has over a decade-long professional and consulting experience. Her professional career started, in 2010, with BAMIS Bank where she was a corporate relations manager.
In 2016, UNDP hired her as a capacity-building consultant for small and medium producers in Mauritania. After three months of working for the UNDP, she joined the anti-inequality non-profit organization, Oxfam Intermón, as a microfinance consultant in her country. In 2017, she officiated as a youth entrepreneurship development consultant for the World Bank Group and a Peace consultant for the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The following year, she worked for Caritas Mauritania as a youth entrepreneurship development consultant.
Melchior Koba