World Bank’s XL Africa tech accelerator has selected 20 startups to participate in the first edition of the week-long L’Afrique Excelle programme. The programme aims to connect francophone startups across the continent with mentors and investors.
The entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to network and learn from leading industry experts, increase regional visibility and network with potential corporate partners and investors. In addition, L’Afrique Excelle will assist participants to raise up to $5-million from investors.
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The selected 20 are: StarNew Mobile (Cameroon), Gifted Mom (Cameroon), Paps (Senegal), TripAfrique (Ivory Coast), Firefly Media (Senegal), Ama (Senegal), Solaris Offgrid (Tanzania), Optimetriks (Kenya), MaTontine (Senegal), LAfricaMobile (Senegal), Ouicarry (Senegal), LONO (Ivory Coast), LiFi LED (Ivory Coast), Sudpay (Senegal), Exportunity GBC2 (Mauritius), SmarOne (Madagascar), CityTaps (Niger), Diool (Cameroon), Oniriq (Senegal), Eyone (Senegal). Eighteen out of the twenty tech startups hail from the largely French-speaking nations of Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Madagascar, Mauritius, Niger, Senegal, while two are from Tanzania and Kenya, anglophone countries.
Their solutions cut across fintechs, transportation, healthcare, cleantech, data analytics and enterprise software. As part of the criteria, startups must have a product or service that is currently available to one or more francophone African markets, have strong revenues and be well positioned for growth and cross-border expansion.
The week-long residency that is scheduled to hold between 24th to 30th March in Mali, will see to it that the 20 startups benefit from training, individual consultations and peer-to-peer learning.
The residency will conclude with a venture showcase at the Francophone Africa Investor Summit on 28 and 29 March in Bamako, Mali. At the end of the programme, 10 startups will be selected to travel to France in May to receive more training and mentoring at The Camp with Sophia Business Angels, and with coaching by experts from Deloitte and Google. In addition, they will also get exposure to investors at the AfroBytes and VivaTech conferences to be held in Paris on May 15th to 18th, 2019.