2 Kenyan startups picked for Google’s Launchpad Accelerator Africa program

david nganga

August 29, 2018 10:28 AM

The finalists will each receive three-month intense mentorship and Cloud and Firebase Credits

Two Kenyan startups have been selected in the second edition of Google’s Launchpad Accelerator Africa.

Cloud9xp and PayGo Energy are among nine other startups from across Africa thatwill receive training and mentorship from Google.

Cloud9xp is an online marketplace and booking service that allows people to buy and sell experiences in various locations across Africa and the Middle East.

PayGo Energy, on the other hand, is a firm that allows players in the LP gas (LPG) value chain to give better services to their customers.

The other finalists from six countries include Nigeria’s Appzone, Formplus, Medsaf and Thank U Cash with Ghana’s Chalkboard Education also making it to the second class

Others are Pineapple and Preeva (South Africa), EzyAgric (Uganda) and Mintrics from Egypt.

Employment growth

“The growth of entrepreneurship in Africa is critical to the survival of our continent,” said Fola Olatunji-David, Head of Startup Success and Services, Launchpad Accelerator Africa.

“We’re currently as a region creating about three million jobs per year, while more than 11 million job seekers are entering the market. Google believes that empowering entrepreneurs and startups is essential to drive employment growth, and enable both economic and social development on the continent.”

The first edition of the initiative saw 12 startups graduate and go on to directly create 132 jobs and, between them, have raised over Sh700 million in funding.

The finalists each receive three-month intense mentorship and Cloud and Firebase Credits plus three weeks all-expense-paid training at Launchpad Accelerator Africa in Lagos.

Applicants needed to be an early stage technology startup based in Sub-Saharan Africa, targeting the African market, that had already raised seed funding.

david nganga