Key takeaways:
- Four startups founded by Africans have made it into the 2023 Google for Startups Accelerator: Black Founders programme.
- According to Google, the accelerator, which will kick off by the end of September 2023, has a variety of startups from different sectors, including health and energy.
- The benefits of the accelerator include equity-free support, technical boot camps and Google product credits.
On September 6, 2023, Google announced the latest cohort of Google for Startups Accelerator: Black Founders programme. This year's cohort had 12 startups, four of which were founded by Africans.
The accelerator for black founders is a 10-week digital accelerator programme for high-potential seed to Series A startups in the US or Canada. Running for its fourth year, this year's cohort had startups from diverse sectors including health, fintech, and energy.
While these startups are US and Canada-based, some of them have African founders.
African-founded startups in the Google for Startups Accelerator: Black Founders programme
AfroHealth
Seyi Adesola Co-founded AfroHealth in 2022. Based in Dallas, US, AfroHelth is a digital health and wellness platform that provides personalised health and wellness coaching for black and brown communities.
Per the startup's website, it offers a free toolkit that helps users track their vitals such as blood pressure and heart rate.
eBanqo
Co-founded by former Interswitch employee, Charles Ifedi, eBanqo is a customer engagement platform that brings helps businesses interact efficiently with customers across all social media platforms. It also features an AI chatbot to help businesses increase their response time.
Rivet
Anjolaoluwa, or Anj Fayemi, is the rapper turned founder of Rivet, an AI-powered fan management platform, that helps artists collect data across social media platforms and other places where they engage their audience.
The platform creates actionable insights based on audience engagement and provides recommendations on how to reach out to the fans.
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The startup raised $500k earlier this year in a pre-seed round led by Drive Capital.
Expedier
Founded by Kingsley Madu, Expedier is a BIPOC (black, indigenous, and people of color)-focused fintech company. Madu started the fintech company after experiencing so many challenges as an immigrant to North America.
Beyond helping immigrants get financially included, Expedier also provides a financial solution that is culturally inclusive.
Google for Startups Accelerator
The accelerator, which will kick off by the end of September will provide non-equity support for the startups, mentoring from Google teams, technical boot camps, and Google product credits.
