Two startups accepted as NEC XON’s official vendors through first SA JICA Ninja Accelerator

Following the conclusion of the first JICA NINJA Accelerator to be held in South Africa, two South African startups, Agrilogiq and Locstat, have formally been approved as NEC XON vendors.

According to media reports, the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) announced last year that it was expanding its flagship NINJA Accelerator to South Africa. The initiative focuses on open innovation and strategic collaboration between Japanese companies and South African startups.

Promising startups were invited to test the possibility of a commercial partnership with NEC XON, the majority-owned pan-African subsidiary of NEC Corporation, as part of the JICA NINJA Accelerator in South Africa – Open Innovation Edition. JICA’s overarching goal is to investigate models of collaboration between Japanese and local startups and use private sector innovation to support the growth of the local startup ecosystem.

Agrilogiq and Locstat have completed their proof-of-concepts (PoCs) with NEC XON and been chosen as vendors, marking the end of the first iteration of the three-month program. From January 19 to 25, the two startups traveled to Tokyo to meet with decision-makers at the main headquarters of NEC Corporation in order to strengthen their ties with other Japanese companies and investors.

Potential integration and scaling through NEC’s Africa projects is made possible by the PoC’s confirmation of Agrilogiq’s alignment with NEC’s agricultural initiatives that address food security in Africa and synergies with international partners.

According to the proof of concept, Locstat’s platform offers strategic synergies in smart infrastructure and urban development through analytics and improved monitoring capabilities, while also improving NEC systems with smooth data flow. In order to confirm scalability and investigate integration with bigger platforms and data sets, both parties decided to carry out additional testing.

“The fact that this project resulted in tangible outcomes such as letters of intent and onboarding as official vendors, demonstrates that more support is needed to validate strategic fit and take corporate-startup collaboration beyond mere introductions. This was just a first step towards helping unlock the true potential of strategic value and returns for corporates and startups alike. I am hopeful that similar programmes will be born from this in the ecosystem,” said Yannick Gayama, managing director and head of programmes at Double Feather Partners, the Japan-based Africa-focused VC and consulting firm leading the project on behalf of JICA.