Fintech startup Hisa Inc has been selected to join Startup Wise Guys’S (SWG) second batch of participants for its €7.5 million fund for African startup investment.
The program, the first ever African, B2B SaaS-focused accelerator, opened to applicants in October 2021, with the first batch of successful participants graduating in June 2022. The second round generated almost 500 applications. SWG selects and works with approximately 10 startups per batch, with plans to invest in 30 startups through 2023.
Startups were eligible to apply from Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania and Rwanda, with the first successful applicant from Tanzania in the new batch.
The selected startups for the second batch of SWG’s Africa fund are:
- Built Financial Technologies (Ghana) – A tool for African SMBs to access financial opportunities via a suite of business tools and financial services.
- Tunzaa Fintech (Tanzania) – A save now, pay later data-driven marketplace for everyday Africans.
- Hisa (Kenya) – An infrastructure for Borderless Investing in Africa.
- DT2 Technologies (Nigeria) – A core banking platform for Microfinance Banks and other financial institutions in Nigeria and Africa
- Sortika (Kenya) – A financial planning tool that seeks to democratize savings and investments.
- Naivera (Kenya) – An online financial marketplace that helps to drive finance towards affordable income-generating assets for wealth creation.
- Bunce (Nigeria) – An API for revenue management and optimization tools for African businesses.
- Zemo Card (Kenya) – An all-in-one expense management solution for growing businesses in Africa.
- ShipBubble (Nigeria) – A platform that connects businesses to multiple shipping providers at discounted prices.
Selected startups are each eligible for €65,000 support for up to a 12% equity stake, as well as an intensive five-month accelerator program. They also have the chance to pitch for follow-on funding of up to €250,000.
Startup Wise Guys will support the selected startups’ founders in multiple areas, including legal, product, sales, growth, culture, fundraising, and more. Teams will also be able to improve on their business model, pitch convincingly, and have a data-driven approach to their problem-solution definition as they continue driving their different innovations across Fintech, Wealthtech, Proptech, Data analytics, and Retailtech.
Startup Wise Guys is Europe’s most experienced startup accelerator and one of its most active investment funds.
To date, SWG’s total investment in African start-ups, including follow-on investments, already exceeds €1.2 million. The accelerator has trained 102 startups from the continent in acceleration and pre-acceleration programs, benefiting an estimated 6,100 people.
SWG is actively working with six startups from Nigeria, six from Kenya, two from Ghana, and one each from Namibia, Uganda, Tanzania, and Ivory Coast.
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