Startups Profile

Valenture Institute was founded by South African-born entrepreneur Robert Paddock, who was also co-founder of Getsmarter, a transformative digital education company successfully acquired by Nasdaq-listed 2U in 2017. To become the biggest online high school in the world by 2028, this The investment will certainly add fuel to Valenture Institute’s already raging fire. The school […]

Founded in Kenya by Timbo Drayson in 2014, OkHi provides digital address verification to financial services, creating the world’s next-generation addressing system to tackle the physical addressing challenge that affects half the world and costs businesses an estimated US$200 billion a year. Its products allow banks, fintech, and businesses to collect and verify customers’ addresses

Easy Solar began operations in 2016, focusing on solar-powered lanterns and home systems for low-income, rural customers without access to electricity.  In 2020, the company expanded its “Buy Now, Pay Later” model to finance a wider range of energy-efficient appliances and consumer electronics, which includes smartphones, cookstoves, and appliances such as TVs, fans, and freezers. 

Auxano Solar is a renewable energy solution provider with high proficiency in the solar energy industry. Founded in 2014, the company delivers high-performance residential and commercial solar system solutions. Auxano’s high-performance solar panels are produced from high-efficiency solar cells thus, they generate more power than conventional solar panels.  Headquartered in Lagos, Auxano Solar is continually

Founded in 2017 by the Nigerian-born Nnamdi Emelifeonwu who currently serves as its CEO and Feargus Macdaeid, Definely is a London-based legal tech that employs Artificial Intelligence (AI) to simplify the drafting, reading, and understanding of contracts. Definely was originally conceived by two lawyers working at Magic Circle law firm Freshfields, one of whom was

Good Nature Agro was founded in 2014 by Carl Jensen, Sunday Silungwe, and Kellan Hays. It is a for-profit social enterprise that believes in farmer-centric impact.  They work with Africa’s most rural small-scale farmers to supply the region with high-quality legume seed and commodities. They do this intending to move the farmers from poverty and

Founded by Obins Choudhary and Chander Prakash in 2019 just before COVID-19 hit, Carscan launched in South Africa. Now, with a presence in 3 other African countries, they have also expanded into Europe and Australia. Obins Choudhary and Chander Prakash worked together and were flatmates for many years.  They each have a passion for exploring

Founded at the start of 2019, Ilara health equips a network of small healthcare providers with lifesaving and essential diagnostic tools to improve the quality of medical care in Sub-Saharan Africa.  A key problem they solve for these clinics is the lack of accessibility to traditional financing typically used by SMEs to support their growth. 

Founded in 2012, LightWare gives eyes to machines, designing and manufacturing the world’s smallest and lightest precision LiDAR systems for use in drones, robots, autonomous vehicles, smart cities, and other applications. The company delivers leading-edge LiDAR technology to global clients including the largest internet, logistics, and drone companies in the world. LiDAR is a remote

Founded in 2018 by Eric Muli, Lipa Later started as a program to help internal employees access mobile phones that’d allow them to be efficient at work. Muli had initially founded Alpha Force Security Ltd, a company that dispatches security guards to homes and offices in Kenya. In 2017, Alpha Force started a mobile phone