Google has announced that 60 startups across Africa will get $4 million dollars in funding in addition to other technical supports to enable them scale up their ongoing activities.
The programme, which is called Google Black Founders Fund (BFF) for startups in Africa, is the second phase of the global tech giant’s funding for African startups, according to Folarin Aiyegbusi, who is Google’s head of startup and business ecosystem in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The 60 grantees comprise 50 per cent women-led businesses, from Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. They cut across sectors such as fintech, healthcare, e-commerce, logistics, Agtech, education, hospitality and smart cities.
Nigeria has the most with 23 grantees, Kenya with 12 grantees, and Rwanda with six grantees. South Africa has five grantees and Uganda has four grantees. Botswana and Senegal have one selected startup each, while Cameroon and Ghana both have three grantees each, with Ethiopia having two selected grantees.
The programme reinforces Google’s commitment to empowering entrepreneurs and startups in the region as a vital prerequisite to driving employment and growth on the continent.
According to Aiyegbusi, ‘’Africa is a diverse continent with massive opportunities but the continent is faced with the challenge of limited diversity in venture capital funding flow.
‘’We hope that the Black Founders Fund programme will be able to bridge the gap of disproportionate funding between ex-pat startups over local and black-led companies.”
Each of the selected startups would receive support in the form of a six-month training programme that includes access to a network of mentors to assist in tackling challenges,’’ Aiyegbusi said.
The 60 startups will also be part of tailored workshops, support networks and community-building sessions, in addition to non-dilutive awards of between $50,000 and $100,000 and up to $200,000 in Google Cloud credit.
The Google for Startups programme was launched in April 2012, and has created over 4,600 jobs and raised more than $290 million dollars in funding.
The programme would introduce the grantees in Africa to Google’s products, connections and best practices, and also help the founders to level the playing field as they built better products and services that add value to the African economy.
The funding, which will be distributed through Google’s implementation partner, CcHUB, would enable the startups to take care of immediate needs such as paying staff, funding inventory, and maintaining software licences.
