Engineering console SeeBox, e-health startup Vula Mobile and mobile gaming company LetiArts were named among the winners of the first African Entrepreneurship Award at a ceremony held in Marrakech, Morocco, walking away with US$150,000 each.
The awards saw 34 finalists pitch at the final after a number of previous rounds that saw more than 5,000 entries from more than 50 countries, with a number of innovations from across Africa rewarded for their work in a number of social fields.
In the Education category, South Africa’s SeeBox and Kenya’s Kytabu were named winners, taking away US$150,000 each. SeeBox is an interactive game console that helps learners understand the fundamental concepts of electronics and engineering. It engages children with short animated videos, and the allows them to put knowledge into practice with experiments on real playboards and game play. The SeeBox keeps track of a learner’s progress as they go.
“My life’s mission is to educate the next generation of brainy nerds – just like myself! – in a fun and engaging way,” said founder Johann Kok.
Kytabu, meanwhile, is a leasing application for textbooks that are preinstalled on an affordable and accessible device. The app is designed to be simple, practical and interactive while providing a new channel to access learning material.
South African startup Vula Mobile, which connects general health workers in remote areas with specialists in hospitals and has an initial focus on eye health, was a winner in the Uncharted category, alongside Jokko$ante. Vula Mobile allows health workers to capture basic patient information, take photographs, do a basic eye test and capture a brief medical history before sending it directly to a specialist.
GreenJimma from Ethiopia and the East Africa Fruits Farm and Company Ltd were winners in the Environmental category, while Ghanaian mobile gaming startup LetiArts won the Most Heart Award.
