12 Kenyan startups selected for Ksh.479M Google Fund

This year’s cohort comprises 50% women-led businesses, and Nigeria leads the pack with 23 grantees, while Kenya has 12 grantees out of the 60 startups selected.

Rwanda has 6 grantees, South Africa 5, Uganda 4, Cameroon and Ghana 3, Ethiopia 2, while Botswana and Senegal have one selected startup each. 

The Kenyan grantees are Ajua, which has an end-to-end operating system for SMEs, travel startup BuuPass, online shopping app DohYangu, merchant-embedded digital savings platform FlexPay and Keep IT Cool, a social enterprise that leverages technology as an enabler to empower African communities.

Others are software company Solutech, agritech startup Synnefa, healthtech startup TIBU Health, online shopping platform TopUp Mama, as well as BNPL platform Zanifu.

Healthtech provider Zuri Health has also made it to the cohort. 

“Africa is a diverse continent with massive opportunity but the continent is faced with the challenge of limited diversity in venture capital funding flow. We hope that the Black Founders Fund program will be able to bridge the gap of disproportionate funding between expat startups over local and black-led companies,” Folarin Aiyegbusi, Head of Startup Ecosystem, SSA, said.

Selected startups will get non-dilutive grants of between Ksh.6 million ($50,000) and Ksh.12 million ($100,000).

At the same time, Google will also give up to Ksh.24 million ($200,000) per startup in Google Cloud credits, Google Ad Grants, as well as training and mentorship support from the company’s veterans.

“​​Each of the selected startups will receive support in the form of a 6-month training programme that includes access to a network of mentors to assist in tackling challenges that are unique to them. They will also be part of tailored workshops, support networks and community building sessions,” the American tech giant said.

Launched last year as a $3 million fund targeting 50 early-stage, black-founded startups in the continent, the fund is part of Google’s racial equity commitments announced in 2020 amid heightened conversations on racial injustice.

Google expanded the fund to $4 million this year and expanded the cohort to accommodate 60 startups.

Kenya is among the 13 prime-focus countries the fund targets due to its active tech and startup ecosystem, alongside South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, Tanzania, Uganda, Ethiopia, Botswana, Cameroon, Ivory Coast, Rwanda, Senegal and Zimbabwe.

To be considered for the funding, applicants usually must have an early-stage start-up with black founders or diverse founding teams, and should be headquartered in Africa.

The start-ups should also benefit the African community, building technology solutions for Africa and the global market and should display the potential of creating jobs as well as exhibit growth potential.

Last year’s cohort comprised eight Kenyan startups; Amitruck (logistics), Angaza Elimu (ed-tech), AquaRech (agri-tech), Finplus (fintech), MarketForce (retail-tech), Pezesha (fintech), Raise (fintech) and WorkPay (HR).