Four Tech StartUps awarded a spot on Adanian Labs South Africa Venture Building Programme where they stand to benefit up to USD480 000 worth of pre-seed funding collectively
Creating & Building a Borderless Africa Through Technology
Out of the sixteen (16) Tech startups that came to present their innovations on Friday the 21st of January 2022 in Johannesburg South Africa, four startups have been announced as successful finalists who will join the Adanian Venture building programme which will grant them access to up to USD120000 worth of pre-seed funding for their tech innovations.
The startups selected for the year-long program are; Air Buy Africa, Intsika Yembokodo, Vambo Academy and Space Salad Studios who all showcased spectacular solutions to some of the problems that affect societies in South Africa and the continent.
Air Buy Africa is a platform created as a solution to the factors hindering Africa. It is an alternative online payment gateway that enables online stores to accept payments from users who do not wish to pay using their banking details. “When choosing to pay using Airbuy, online shoppers will use their mobile number instead of the traditional option of using their banking details to avoid being a victim of fraud.” says co-founder Njabulo Makhathini “We are very excited to be part of the programme and we believe this will expose Airbuy to more of Adanian Labs’ footprint which is continent-wide.” he expresses.
Intsika YeMbokodo, founded by Nomcebo Mgaga is an agribusiness skills transfer for youth where youth will be trained in Agribusiness using an online platform. Says Mgaga, “Flying high begins with spreading your wings. Thanks to Adanian Labs for allowing me to work with you and to be part of the programme! As an entrepreneur, this will enable me to grow the business, create employment and many opportunities. I believe that it will open many doors for Intsika AgriHUB as a business and make it a great impact powered and commercially viable AgriTech in Africa.”
SpaceSalad Studios was established in 2019 as a content creation collective that seeks to be an authentic African storyteller in the age of the 4th industrial revolution through the use of interactive media. Presenting on their latest innovation inspired by lived experiences and the need to promote better waste management, the team set out to create the game Doba Dash, a 3D combat racing game about the informal waste management Recycling community, known as the reclaimers aka ‘street surfers’. “In this game, players take on the role of the street surfer and battle it out in a race against other players to collect as many recyclable materials on the track which they convert into weapons or cash at the end of the game.
This is their currency which they use to customize their carts, character as well as unlock unique accessories. “We are excited that Adanian Labs and the programme will help us develop the skills we need so that we can build a commercially successful gaming industry from Africa to the world!” Shares CEO and Co-founder Thabo Tsolo
Vambo Academy is an online platform that aims to teach African languages and share various aspects of African heritage whilst preserving its value. The language and communication skills learned on the Vambo Academy platform are ready for immediate use. “We are so honoured and excited to be selected to form part of the first cohort of the Adanian labs venture building programme in South Africa. This is going to be a game-changing opportunity for Vambo Academy. We look forward to improving our offering and business model to better serve the needs of African indigenous languages and knowledge structures,” expresses Founder, Chido Dzinotyiwei
The startups pitched their innovations and how they are intentionally creating optimal tech solutions to a highly experienced panel of judges that consisted of the Adanian labs' co-founders, Irene Kiwia, John Kamara and Bendon Murgor, and guest judge, Dr Ntuthuko Bhengu who is the founder of Alchemy Health Technologies who brought to the panel, great knowledge and experience in product innovation and scalability’
The program, which launched the call for startups in December 2021, received applications from different sectors including FinTech, EduTech, AgriTech, HealthTech, EnviroTech, InsurTech, EnergyTech, Smart-City, MobilityTech, EmmersiveTech - including IoT, Blockchain and AI.
“We are talking about 4IR but we have realised that we are not producing our technologies. We have a lot of entrepreneurs who are coming up with a lot of amazing solutions but they fail because of lack of access to resources,” says Chief Growth Officer, Irene Kiwia
During the twelve-month programme, startups will have access to Adanian Labs technical support, business mentorship, access to market, partnerships and funding and also help them apply lean principles in processes, learning, iteration and scaling of their innovations.
“Since our establishment in 2020, Adanian Labs has incubated fourteen (14) groundbreaking tech startups across sectors. We aim to build the next generation of socially impactful and commercially driven companies that will change the world from Africa and the venture building program is going to be a sure vehicle to strategically bring this vision to a concrete reality” shares Co-founder, John Kamara
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Issued by JT Communication Solutions on behalf of Adanian Labs SA
About Adanian Labs:
Adanian Labs is a Pan African venture building studio with a mission to build, incubate and launch impact-driven technology companies and entrepreneurs working to solve some of Africa’s most pertinent challenges.
Adanian Labs uses smart technologies (AI and Blockchain) as building blocks to create solutions that are impact-focused, commercially viable and scalable across Africa and other parts of the world.
Currently, the company has built 14 startups including in AgriTech, HealthTech, WomenTech, FinTech, AdTech, SmeTech and other industries; and has launched 2 centres of Excellencies - AI Center of Excellence for Artificial Intelligence and The Africa Block Chain Center for Blockchain Technology.
Adanian Labs is a partner of EMURGO Africa and is headquartered in Nairobi Kenya, with a presence in Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, Zambia, Swaziland and the United Kingdom.
