Barclays Africa has chosen 10 startups from the e-health and fintech sectors to take part in its 13-week Tech Lab accelerator programme, aimed at providing startups with access to business mentors, industry leaders, influencers and experts.
Disrupt Africa reported in July on the launch of Tech Lab Africa, which is based in Cape Town, South Africa. The programme has already started and will run for 13 weeks, featuring one-on-one mentoring, workshops, and weekly company pitches.
It will culminate in a demo day on December 10, attended by Barclays executives and Private Wealth clients as well as external investors, potential corporate customers and media.
The four e-health startups chosen are patient engagement solutions company 30DayHealth, universal core identity registry and mobile platform Consent, integrated health solutions company Health Solutions Africa, and online healthcare booking platform RecoMed.
Six fintech startups have also been chosen, namely tech-based private microlending firm Aella Credit, blockchain technology for financial institutions Cape Hill, digital commerce and financial services platform Intel World International, web-based invoicing platform Invoice Exchange, electronic payments solution Peach Payments, and peer-to-peer payments app integrating bitcoin ZapGo.
Barclays Africa said the worlds of financial services and digital health are being disrupted by new technologies, agile companies and innovative products and services, with non-traditional competitors penetrating the market and long-held competitive boundaries disappearing.
“In order to compete, Barclays Africa needs to connect, shape and scale with these new industry players. We are looking for big, fresh ideas that promise to shake things up – be this in the financial services industry, the health sector, or anywhere else,” said Ashley Veasey, chief information officer (CIO) at Barclays Africa.
