$4 million will go to 25 African companies. Google’s Black Founders Fund for Startups
The 25 firms with headquarters in Africa that were chosen for this year’s $4 million Black Founders Fund have been revealed by Google for firms.
The US$3 million Google for Startups Black Founders Fund Africa, a component of Google’s racial equity commitments launched in June 2020, was the subject of a Disrupt Africa report in July 2021.
For the second round, Google expanded their investment with an extra US$1 million in funding and backed 10 more founders, giving equity-free funding to 50 entrepreneurs.
Google once more pledged US$4 million for the third cohort, and as of now, 40 firms have been chosen to earn equity-free cash prizes of up to US$150,000, cloud credit of US$200,000, access to training, and networking opportunities with mentors. Of those, twenty-five are from Africa.
Akoma Health, Evolve Credit, Fez Delivery, Herconomy, MDaaS Global, My Pocket Counsel, Orda, Periculum, Raenest, and TruQ are the top 10 ventures in Nigeria. Five more are from Kenya: Fleetsimplify, Jumba, Tushop, Uzapoint, and Zydii.
HealthDart, Excel At Uni, and Zinacare are three more from South Africa, while BezoMoney and Talamus Health from Ghana and EzyAgric and Ridelink from Uganda each had two. The list is completed by Chargel (South Africa), Charis UAS (Rwanda), and Susu (Ivory Coast).
“Startups play a major role in advancing Africa’s digital transformation. We look forward to working with this group of innovative founders who are using technology to solve some of the most pressing challenges in Africa. The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund is committed to addressing the stark inequality in VC funding by providing black founders with the resources and support they need to succeed,” said Folarin Aiyegbusi, head of startups ecosystem for Africa at Google.
Herconomy’s founder, Ifedayo Durosinmi-Etti, stated that being selected for the 2023 Black Founders Fund would fuel its revolutionary vision and speed up its development.
We will accelerate the development of our cutting-edge products, improve service for our cherished clients, and increase our footprint globally with the financing and assistance provided by the program, she said.
