5 South African tech startups doing very clever things
Startupbootcamp – which supports early-stage tech founders to scale their companies by providing direct access to an international network of mentors, partners, and investors – has narrowed down more than 1,000 applications to 22 startups for its African edition, including five from South Africa.
These startups will attend a ‘Final Selection Days’ to be hosted at PwC in Cape Town from which Startupbootcamp will select a top 10 list to attend a three-month intense bootcamp kicking off in Cape Town in August.
The foundation said it has already accelerated 607 startups since 2010, ensuring an average of €1.168 million in funding, or €424 million in total funding.
SBC Africa said it received 1,004 total applications from 77 countries on five continents. “The startups that applied were exceptionally impressive and have gained more traction in the market than the applicants for the 2017 cohort,” it said.
The following five startups were selected from South Africa:
Brandbookalytics Big Data
Brandbook is a mobile application aimed at providing users with free gift card coupons for completed purchases.
Users simply upload receipts of selected purchases completed at brick and mortar stores or online to earn points. No purchases are completed over the application as with traditional e-commerce services.
Brandbook is able to harvest vast amounts of consumer data which allows for quantitative sale-driven predictive models, query drilling down, statistical analysis and optimisation which can result in improved forecasting and trend recognition.
Ifileme
iFileMe is a cloud based (Azure) universal platform that facilitates B2C/C2B secure exchange and logical filing of personal documentation.
It addresses numerous regulatory requirements and drastically reduces the cost of many cumbersome and time-consuming processes, anytime, anywhere.
LÜLA
LÜLA is a multi-platform community for transport that connects stakeholders to improve mobility by providing transit that is convenient, safe and accessible to all.
The platform provides a ticketless transit and mobile passenger information systems to enable the community to make better decisions by bridging the information gap.
The group’s driver app maps out convenient routes for the journey and allows drivers to see all commuters waiting to hop on and off at each stop. Operators communicate directly to drivers directly about any changes. Report incidents. Change routes. Share information. It’s too easy!
Prospa
Prospa is a micro-savings solution for low-income earning South Africans. It allows savers to use their cash to purchase savings vouchers at traders. Vouchers come in R5, R10, R20 and R50.
Vouchers are distributed into informal and formal stores across the country using third party distribution services. Vouchers entitle users to a set amount of savings which are deposited into their mobisavings account.
Prospa makes its money from an upfront deposit fee
Akiba Digital
Akiba is a mobile app that offers a combination of financial behavioural coaching, a premium rewards program, goal-setting and visualisation to make saving more effective.
The top 22 startups invited to the ‘Final Selection Days’ come from seven different countries, including South Africa:
- Nigeria: Bankly Technologies, Biyabot, CredPal, FriendsVow, Kudimoney Bank, Medikal HMS, NebulaPay, and ZEEZZ Planet Solutions.
- Uganda: CoinPesa, RoundBob Uganda, and Swipe 2 Pay
- Ivory Coast: Digitech Group, and Districash
- Kenya: Kakbima, and MPost
- Ghana: Inclusive Financial Technologies
- Ireland: Pago Payments
Philip Kiracofe, co-founder and CEO of Startupbootcamp Africa, said: “One of the key differentiators for startups that participate in the SBC Accelerator is the opportunity to secure commercial contracts with our sponsors. In order to make it onto our Top 22, each startup has been chosen by at least 2 sponsors for potential proof of concept projects.”
The SBC Africa Accelerator is anchored and endorsed by the following corporate sponsors: RCS, BNP Paribas Personal Finance, Nedbank, Old Mutual and PwC.
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