Second edition of Microsoft-backed FAST Accelerator selected twelve African AI startups
The second cohort of the FAST Accelerator, developed by Microsoft in collaboration with Flapmax and intended to strengthen and scale Africa’s digital ecosystem, has selected twelve African AI startups.
FAST Accelerator 2023 aims to provide startup founders looking to scale quickly and sustainably with a “transformative experience” by building on the success of the first program. Over 1,200 applications were submitted from 35 different African nations.
The cohort of 12 startups in the FAST Accelerator will proceed to a five-week comprehensive acceleration experience in Silicon Valley starting in October after completing its two-week online bootcamp, which saw participation from more than 60 tech companies.
Participants in the competition include Zeeh Africa, Sumundi, Cotrust Equity, Trucki, Orange VFX, 10mg Pharma, Wallx, Moosbu, KCG Aquatec Fish Farming, Aibanc, Zendawa Africa, and Greenbii. The cohort will get involved in lots of different activities starting next month, including training, AI integration, business development, fundraising, and various other events. They will collaborate closely on co-innovation projects with Intel and Microsoft, get help with sales and marketing, and get go-to-market enablement to reach a wider audience.
Members of the Flapmax engineering team will also help startups apply optimized Large Language AI models (LLMs), scale and optimize these models on Microsoft Azure and Intel platforms.
“Microsoft believes that African startups and small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are well-positioned to become a bedrock for the African digital economy, with relevant solutions to local societal and economic challenges. Participation in the FAST Accelerator programme will help these entrepreneurs capture growth opportunities and expand their market reach,” said Mame-Fatou Gueye, SME programme manager at the Microsoft Africa Transformation Office.
“At Flapmax, our mission is to build societally impactful solutions that harness the power of AI to transform multiple industries through long-term partnerships with startups, SMEs, and global enterprises,” said Dr Dave Ojika, founder and CEO of Flapmax.
“Collaborating with technology partners like Microsoft and Intel, we are assembling a unique fusion of cutting-edge AI technologies, business development strategies, and global-scale growth opportunities for Africa and other emerging markets. Our objective is to empower startups and underrepresented entrepreneurs to rapidly and sustainably scale their businesses and create new job opportunities using AI as a catalyst.”
