An Ethiopian digital marketplace, Taskmoby, has made it to a shortlist of 11 standups to pitch for funding in the MultiChoice Africa Accelerator Program.
MultiChoice expanded its startup accelerator program eight African countries including Ethiopia this year in a bid to boost prosperity of African small and medium-sized businesses (SMME).
The first phase of the program saw public and private-sector partners from across the nin nominating businesses or entrepreneurs.
The program selected 29 businesses from 9 African countries trained in key entrepreneurial skills.
Out of the, MultiChoice said a panel of experts has now selected 11 "the most promising small businesses" for the second leg.
An Ethiopian digital marketplace Taskmoby was one of them.
MultiChoice invited the startups to pitch to prospective international investors in Dubai.
"The quality of the submissions this year was high. It confirms our view that Africa has enormous potential," said Fhulufhelo Badugela, MultiChoice Africa CEO.
"I have no doubt these small businesses will be able to take everything they've learned so far to unlock transformative business funding."
The startups attended a dedicated boot camp in Lusaka, Zambia to learn more about how to shape their story for international investors, and to get "pitch ready" before their big presentations
The 11 start-ups to present their business plans to a panel of investors are:
1. Tupuca from Angola
Tupuca is an on-demand quick-commerce platform and logistical aggregator of uber-like drivers that allows users to order from multiple vendors and service providers ranging from restaurants, grocery stores, small retailers and courier services.
2. Taskmoby from Ethiopia
Taskmoby is the first digital marketplace in Ethiopia that connects customers with qualified home services providers (e.g. plumbers, cleaners, electricians), leveraging a mobile application, SMS/USSD solutions and a dedicated call center.
3. StarNews Mobile from Ivory Coast
StarNews Mobile is a pan-African media-tech company whose mission is to give financial freedom to African creators from the distribution and monetization of their digital content globally.
4. Tendo from Ghana
Tendo is a social commerce platform that enables anyone to sell online with zero capital.
5. Zuri Health from Kenya
Zuri Health is a virtual hospital (Super Health App) providing affordable and accessible healthcare services to patients across Sub-Saharan Africa via mobile app, website, WhatsApp bot and SMS service.
Through the app, patients can chat and consult with doctors, buy medication from pharmacies, book labs and diagnostic tests and even have a doctor visit them at home.
6. Dojah Inc and Crop2Cash from Nigeria
Dojah Inc is an end-to-end Identity verification and compliance framework to strengthen confidence, credibility, and compliance across digital businesses.
At Crop2Cash, they built a digital financial service that allows smallholder farmers anywhere in Nigeria to open a bank account on their feature phones in under 2 minutes, with no internet required.
7. MaTontine from Senegal
MaTontine is a digital financial services platform.
It digitizes traditional, African savings groups to provide access to financial services for financially excluded women in Africa.
8. Botlhale AI and Gradesmatch South Africa
Botlhale AI builds Natural Language Processing (NLP) tools for African languages. Developers and organizations can integrate any of these tools into their solutions through its APIs.
Gradesmatch helps students (and families) to transition from education to economic opportunity by making the journey as simple as possible. The company builds the core enabling infrastructure that simplifies the journey from education to economic opportunity.
9. Mighty Finance Solution from Zambia
Mighty Finance Solution provides SMEs in emerging markets with seamless credit and financial solutions using artificial intelligence. The company leverages proprietary credit rating algorithm to pave the way for a unique lending experience and transforming lives through the provision of simple, quick and affordable loans.
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