The ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator, which offers access to up to US $120,000 in equity funding and other forms of support, has selected twelve startups for its second edition.
The three-month-long ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator was established by Techstars, a global investment firm that offers early-stage entrepreneurs access to capital, one-on-one mentorship, and customized programming. Techstars partnered with ARM Labs, a Lagos-based innovation program that supports fintech startups.
After the first edition concluded earlier this year, 12 businesses were chosen to participate in the second edition out of over 1,000 applications.
This cohort focuses more broadly on entrepreneurs that are transforming Africa and the world by using technology, data, and intelligence to serve a population that is growing in size, youth, income, and digital access. The first cohort concentrated on fintech and prop-tech companies.
Nigeria is the home of nine of the chosen projects. These include the inventory marketplace 24Seven, the beauty e-commerce site Beauty Hut, the investtech platform GetEquity, the emergency response startup Eight Medical, and the mobile checkout app JumpnPass. The other chosen Nigerian startups are Veend, a funds-on-demand service, PressOne Africa, a customer insight platform, Surge Africa, a payments solution, and PBR Life Sciences, a health data service.
Two Ghanaian startups, One Plan, a pension-planning platform, and Swoove, a logistics startup, have been chosen. London-based but Africa-focused energy company Rana completes the cohort.
“Our second cohort truly showcases, and perhaps also epitomises, the wealth of talent, innovation, and ingenuity that can be found within the African tech ecosystem. Supporting this group in reaching their full potential feels like the perfect segway following the close and success of the inaugural cohort,” said Oyin Solebo, managing director of the ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator.
“The current market dynamics means that founders need a combination of financial support as well as technical assistance and access to networks in order to build resilient businesses. We are glad to be able to provide comprehensive support that covers this entire spectrum.”
The programnme will conclude with an invite-only demo day on February 22, 2024.
