Google welcomes 15 African AI pioneers to Startups Accelerator Africa Class 9

The Google for Startups Accelerator, a three-month program designed to support early-stage startups utilizing artificial intelligence (AI) to address Africa’s most pressing issues, has selected 15 African AI-focused tech ventures.

The Google for Startups Accelerator Africa program was launched in 2018 and has since helped 140 startups from nearly 17 African nations. Fifteen startups have been chosen from the ninth program, which was open to seed to Series A African startups developing AI-first solutions.

The Google for Startups Accelerator: Africa Class 9 cohort consists of:

• AFRIKABAL (Rwanda): A blockchain and AI-powered platform helping farmers, buyers, and logistics firms trade crops securely and transparently.
• Apexloads (Kenya): A logistics SaaS platform helping African freight brokers, forwarders, and transporters move cargo faster with verified partners.
• E-doc Online (Nigeria): Simplifies compliance and credit checks by analyzing real-time banking data, enabling faster onboarding and smarter lending decisions.
• GoNomad (Nigeria): Enables businesses to start and run global entities, and solopreneurs to professionally invoice and get paid globally like a local.
• Midddleman (Nigeria): An intelligent sourcing and payment platform helping African businesses import and pay for goods from China faster, safer, and cheaper.
• Myltura (Nigeria): An AI-powered digital health platform enabling remote care, test access, and seamless health data management in Africa.
• Pastel (Nigeria): Offers Enterprise AI solutions, inc. AI-based fraud detection and anti-money laundering solutions for financial institutions in Africa.
• Rapid Human AI (South Africa): An end-to-end AI design-thinking platform that turns ideas into code in days, cutting development time by 80%.
• Regulon (Ghana): An AI-powered compliance and onboarding platform designed to simplify regulatory processes for businesses across Africa and the EMEA region.
• Scandium (Nigeria): An AI Quality Assurance suite that helps teams ship bug-free software faster with end-to-end test automation and test ops tooling.
• Shamba Records (Kenya): An AI-powered platform that empowers 50,000+ African farmers with smart credit, market access, and climate-resilient, data-driven agriculture.
• Smartel Agri Tech (Rwanda): Helps smallholder farmers in the Global South get ahead of crop pests and diseases early using AI-powered, solar-driven devices and SMS alerts.
• TOLBI (Senegal): Leverages AI and satellite imagery to empower sustainable agriculture across Africa, providing precise crop yield forecasts.
• YeneHealth (Ethiopia): An AI-driven digital health web and mobile app streamlining access to affordable, reliable, quality medications & health care services.
• Zerone Analytiqs (Ghana): A transformative two-pronged solution to the data scarcity in Africa. We are revolutionizing how data is sourced, analyzed, and utilized for decisions.

A fiercely competitive application process that started in April and attracted close to 1,500 applications from all over the continent preceded the selection. This group demonstrates Google’s strong dedication to developing Africa’s thriving tech sector and helping startups expand.

“African startups are at the forefront of solving critical challenges across the continent, and their work with AI is truly transformative,” said Folarin Aiyegbusi, head of startup ecosystem for Africa at Google. “This programme reflects our belief that AI can be transformative when shaped by those who understand the context deeply. We are incredibly excited to support these founders who are building for impact and helping to shape an inclusive AI ecosystem across Africa.”

The chosen companies will take part in a hybrid accelerator program for the next three months. Participants will receive up to US $350,000 in Google Cloud credits, strategic support for AI implementation, product leadership, and business growth, as well as committed technical mentoring from seasoned Google engineers and industry experts. To increase their influence and reach, they will also have access to a global network of partners, investors, and collaborators.