The inaugural cohort of the FAST startup accelerator, created by Microsoft in collaboration with Flapmax to build and scale Africa’s digital ecosystem, has been selected.
The 12-week FAST program, which starts next week, brings together entrepreneurs from six nations and nine industries, which were chosen from over 800 submissions from 25 countries.
Applicants for the FAST program had to be based in Africa, ready to develop or expand inside the continent, and have a proven product-market fit that addressed one or more Sustainable Development Goals (SDG).
The FAST accelerator cohort will participate in a variety of activities to help them scale quickly and sustainably, including training, company development, cloud, and AI integration, fundraising, and community-building events.
Participants will work one-on-one with Microsoft engineering team members on co-innovation projects ranging from product integrations to new offerings.
The Flapmax engineering team will assist the startup owners in gaining access to new technology tools and services.
Four of the startups that were chosen are based in Nigeria, and they are:
- Capsa Technology, an online marketplace allowing businesses to buy and sell invoices;
- LegitCar, Africa’s largest automobile data service;
- DayDone, an e-commerce platform digitizing Africa’s agriculture industry;
- Pade HCM, an automated HR platform for all African businesses;
Additionally, four of the companies selected are based in Kenya, including:
- Silqu: prop-tech platform;
- Snark Health is an e-health startup;
- K-12 EdTech is an educational app;
- Snark Health is an e-health startup;
Other selected companies are:
- VAIS, an Egyptian agri-tech startup;
- Tumaini La Maisha, a Tanzanian e-health service;
- Wala Digital Health, a Ghanaian e-health startup;
- KaCyber Technologies, Ugandan mobility company.
Participants will also get up to $250,000 in Microsoft Azure cloud credits, as well as access to Microsoft 365, Dynamics 365, and the Microsoft for Startups Founders Hub, which includes OpenAI API access.
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