Fifteen African AI-focused tech ventures have been selected for the Google for Startups Accelerator, a three-month initiative designed to support early-stage startups using artificial intelligence (AI) to address Africa’s most pressing challenges.
Since its inception in 2018, the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa programme has supported 106 startups from 17 African countries. The 10th programme, like the ninth, was open to seed-to-Series A startups based in Africa that are building AI-first solutions, and received nearly 2,600 applications.
Fifteen AI-driven startups have now been selected to join the programme, with these innovators leveraging AI to tackle critical challenges in fintech, agri-tech, e-health, mobility, and SaaS. They will now take part in a three-month hybrid programme, which offers them access to mentorship from experienced mentors and industry experts. They will also gain access to technical workshops and resources focused on AI and cloud technologies, equipping them to scale their impact and prepare for follow-on funding.
Four of the selected startups are from Nigeria – Bani, a cross-border payments infrastructure platform; MasteryHive AI, an AI-native platform automating transaction reconciliation, fraud detection, and AML monitoring; Regxta, which combines alternative data-driven credit scoring with a hybrid digital-agent distribution model to deliver financial products to unbanked micro businesses; and Termii, an AI-native communications infrastructure platform ensuring reliable financial messaging for banks and fintechs.
Another four are from Kenya – Coamana, which helps governments and market associations digitize informal food markets; Duck, a real-time data intelligence platform giving consumer brands instant shop floor visibility to prevent stockouts; ReportsAI, which helps impact organisations turn raw data into institutional knowledge and compliance-ready reporting; and VunaPay, which builds fintech and data infrastructure for cooperatives, enabling instant payments and financial services for smallholder farmers.
Two of the ventures are South African, namely Loop, which digitises mobility and payments in Africa, helping people, businesses and communities access simpler, more connected transport and payment solutions; and Vambo AI, which builds multilingual AI infrastructure powering translation, speech, and generative AI across African languages.
Completing the cohort is Angola’s ANDA Africa, a mobility and fintech platform formalising, financing, and electrifying Angola’s informal moto-taxi workforce; Uganda’s Emaisha Pay, which enables agro-traders to manage produce, collect multi-currency payments, and access embedded trade financing; Senegal’s Maad, a full-stack omnichannel market expansion platform helping consumer brands grow sales across Africa; Ivory Coast’s Meditect, which digitises African pharmacies with cloud software and real-time data; and Tanzania’s Safiri, which builds the digital infrastructure powering reliable transportation of people and goods across Africa.
“This is bigger than Loop,” said Imtiyaaz Riley, CEO of Loop. “We started this journey on the Cape Flats, building with communities who are often overlooked by traditional systems. Being selected by Google shows that globally relevant innovation can come from anywhere.”
