BY TOM JACKSON
Thirteen startups focused on Africa or with African founders took part in the just-concluded Y Combinator W20 batch, banking US$150,000 in funding.
The renowned Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator hosted its 30th demo day yesterday (March 16), albeit digitally because of the coronavirus crisis, after graduating its W20 batch.
All selected companies received US$150,000 in seed investment, and took part in the three-month programme between January and March during which they worked intensively with Y Combinator to get the company into the best possible shape and refine their pitches to investors.
This cohort was made up on over 200 startups from 32 countries, with 13 of those startups building products for the African market or founded by an African. The names of 11 of those startups have been made public.
Five of those startups are from Nigeria, namely retail-tech solutions developer CrowdForce, logistics startup SEND, online investment brokerage Bamboo, credit startup Swipe, and business management platform Termii.
Another three companies hail from Kenya, in the form of retail supply platform NUMI, payroll processing startup WorkPay, and e-health startup Tambua.
The list of confirmed African participants is completed by Algerian ride-hailing app Yassir, Cameroonian e-health startup Healthlane, and Ethiopian drone delivery network Avion.
