Four startups from Nigeria and one each from Kenya and South Africa have been selected to participate in the fourth class of Google's Launchpad Accelerator commencing in July.
The Nigerian startups are:
• Delivery Science, which provides mobile forms that help large organisations obtain field data;
• Flutterwave – a startup that builds technology and infrastructure for digital commerce across Africa;
• gidimo – an m-learning platform that uses "mastery learning" and social gamification to help users with personal development; and
• Paystack – a fintech startup that helps businesses in Africa accept payments from their customers.
The African representatives also include South Africa's JUMO which is a large scale, lowest cost financial services marketplace for emerging markets, and Kenya's Twiga Foods – a tech-enabled sourcing and distribution platform that replaces informal wholesale markets in Africa's urban markets.
From July 17, 2017, the startups will join international competitors and participate in a six-month acceleration program.
The program includes a two-week all-expense-paid training at Google Headquarters, equity-free support, access to Google engineers, resources and mentors, credits for Google products, working closely with Google for six months and marketing spotlight opportunities.
Roy Glasberg, Global Lead, Launchpad Program and Accelerator, said: "We're back at it again and excited to welcome an inspiring group of startups from all over the world for the fourth class of Launchpad Accelerator.
"This time around, startups from Asia and Latin America will be joined by peers from Africa and Europe. In addition to expanding our reach, we're also expanding our curriculum. We'll help the startups dig deeper into machine learning and AI, to help them leverage Google's latest technologies to scale their apps."
Chuka Ofili, co-founder of Delivery Science, said the startup's selection is great for the development for Nigeria's tech ecosystem.
"It is a positive feat for the Nigerian tech industry. The Google Launchpad Accelerator will not only catapult Delivery Science to the global stage, it will also help the local tech industry in Nigeria achieve global acclaim."
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