Google has announced the 25 African startups selected for the third cohort of the Google Black Founders Fund program. The Black Founders Fund program was created to address the systemic racial inequality in venture capital funding by providing equity-free grants and mentoring to early-stage Black-led high-growth businesses across Europe and Africa.
With a $4 million commitment, selected startups will receive up to $150,000 in cash awards, $200,000 in Google Cloud credits, and expert mentoring. This funding will help the startups fuel growth, expand into new markets, and boost economic opportunities and job creation. Out of the 25 African startups, Nigeria led the pack with 10, followed closely by Kenya with 5.
Read Also: Black Founders Fund: Nigeria gets 23 out of 60 startups
Meet the 10 Nigerian startups
Akoma Health
Akoma Health is a health tech startup that offers culturally conscious mental health services in Africa via teletherapy. Their mission is to support Africans, everywhere through life’s challenges, and to empower Africans in fulfilling their full potential through quality mental health support.
The health tech startup, co-founded by Melanie Okuneye in 2022, has not publicly disclosed any raised funding as of the time of writing this article. Nevertheless, the company has established a partnership with Lagoon Hospitals, one of the largest hospital chains in Nigeria.
Evolve Credit
Evolve Credit is a SaaS lending & banking marketplace that allows consumers to find and apply for loan offers from select lenders. Eolve Credit is on a mission to help financial institutions, alternative lenders and businesses manage the lending process from end to end and offer BNPL services to customers.
Founded by Akan Nelson and Daniel Osineye in 2019, Crunchbase reports that Evolve Credit has raised a total of $325K in funding over two rounds. Their latest funding was raised on Oct 12, 2020, from a Pre-Seed round. In 2022, the startup also launched Configure, a cloud lending software to power thousands of new loan providers in the coming years.
Fez Delivery
Fez Delivery is a technology-driven startup that provides hassle-free last-mile logistics services to businesses and individuals across Africa. Fez Delivery’s mission is to help individuals, SMEs, and corporates fulfil their last-mile delivery promises to their customers.
Founded in 2020 by Seun Alley and Femi Jose, Fez Delivery has raised over $1 million in two funding rounds since its inception. Its recent funding round was $1 million led by Acasia Ventures in March 2023. It also raised $120,000 in a pre-seed funding round from Techstars in 2022.
Herconomy
Herconomy which started out as AGS Tribe, a community dedicated to networking and capacity building of young entrepreneurs and professionals, is a female-focused fintech startup dedicated to creating financial resources for women. Its goal is to become Africa’s first women’s bank.
Founded in 2021 by Ife Durosinmi – Etti, Herconomy (Ex AGS Tribe) has raised $600,000 in pre-seed funding rounds since its inception and is on a mission to empower women by providing them with robust financial resources.
MDaaS Global
MDaaS Global is a health tech startup that provides tech-enabled diagnostic centres to clinically-underserved communities across Africa. Currently partnering with over 500 referring health facilities, MDaaS Global’s goal is to provide modern, connected healthcare for Africa’s next billion.
Co-founded in 2018 by Oluwasoga Oni, MDaaS Global has raised a total of $3.7M in funding to enable it to offer its wide range of services including imaging (digital x-ray, ultrasound, & mammography), cardiac (ECG, echo), and lab (chemistry analysis, immunoassay, and haematology) services.
My Pocket Counsel
My Pocket Counsel is a legal tech startup that provides a management platform for contract automation and generation. Its product explores a wide range of contracts from simple agreements to sales, HR documents, investment, and share purchase agreements.
Founded by Deji Awoniyi and Kola Ayanwale in 2021, there is no record that shows the legal tech platform has raised funds since its inception.
Orda
Orda Africa startup offers a cloud-based restaurant management system, specifically designed for Nigerian restaurants and tailored to the needs of African chefs and food business owners. The startup majorly focuses on local and small restaurants with no access to analytical and inventory management software tools.
Founded in 2020, by Akinwale Adinlewa, Guy Futi, and Olakunle Ogungbamila, the startup has raised over $4 million since its inception. Its goal is to build a pan-African neobank for restaurants, enabling Africa’s millions of food business owners to scale and grow their businesses.
Periculum
Periculum is an AI company that specializes in analytic solutions, including data analytics, Artificial Intelligence, and Machine Learning software. Its mission is to enable the growth of African businesses by providing them with powerful tools for real-time data analysis and aggregation.
Founded in 2019 by Michael Collins, the AI startup has raised over $1 million since its inception. In November 2022, the Data firm Periculum launched Utambuzi, a personal financial management tool.
Raenest
Raenest is a modern financial management tool for African remote workforce talent and global businesses. The solution removes the pain around contracting, invoicing, and payments. Raenest acts as a hiring and payroll platform that enables African startups and freelancers to optimize accounts receivable & expenses with global bank accounts & simplified multicurrency invoicing.
Founded in 2022 by Richard Oyome, Sodruldeen Mustapha, and Victor Alade, the fintech startup has raised over $3 million and was also selected for the 2022 Techstars cohort.
TruQ
TruQ is a startup that helps streamline mid-mile logistics across Africa with third-party vehicle connectivity. The startup uses technology to connect businesses and people to vehicles perfect for their logistics needs.
Founded in 2019 by Williams Fatayo and Fuluso Ojo, TruQ has raised over $400k in funding since its inception. The startup was also backed by TechStars as it was among those selected for the 2022 Techstars cohort.
Read Also: Techstars ’22 cohort: Meet the 9 African startups selected
Other African startups on the list for the Google 2023 Black Founders Fund
- BezoMoney (Ghana)
- Chargel (Senegal)
- Charis UAS (Rwanda)
- Excel At Uni (South Africa)
- EzyAgric (Uganda)
- Fleetsimplify (Kenya)
- HealthDart (South Africa)
- Jumba (Kenya)
- Ridelink (Uganda)
- Susu (Côte d’Ivoire)
- Talamus Health (Ghana)
- Tushop (Kenya)
- Uzapoint (Kenya)
- Zinacare (South Africa)
- Zydii (Kenya)
