The first class of startups to have taken part in the Barclays Accelerator powered by Techstars will tomorrow showcase their products at a demo day in Cape Town.
Disrupt Africa reported in October Barclays was bringing its accelerator programme, which is already active in the United States (US) and United Kingdom (UK), to Cape Town.
The first class of 10 startups was announced in April, and has since undergone a 13-week programme involving intensive networking, mentoring and development. The 10 teams will now showcase their fintech propositions at a demo day.
“The companies encompass a wide array of verticals within fintech – including international payments, mobile medical insurance, land title registration via blockchain and financial inclusion. This diversity signifies the breadth and depth of the entrepreneurial talent that exists in this class,” Techstars said at the beginning of the programme.
The 10 startups include Kenya’s iNuka Pap, a mobile platform that partners with credit co-operatives to allow their members to conveniently deposit, withdraw and access instant micro-loans as well as access other credit services, Tanzanian micro-insurance platform Edge Point, and South African parking solutions app WizzPass.
The other African startups that took part in the programme are Ghanaian church management solution Asoriba, Nigerian lending platform Social Lender, and Uganda’s Tech4Farmers, which provides farmers with real-time access to market information.
There were also four non-African businesses in the programme: US companies BenBen and Beyonic, UK startup SimbaPay, and Lebanese startup Re-Able.
“At Barclays Africa we recognise that to drive innovation within the bank, we also need to look outside the organisation and embrace the innovative start-up ecosystem. I am looking forward to working with these 10 startups as we find increasingly innovative ways to help Africa prosper,” said Paul Nel, Head of Open Innovation at Barclays Africa.
Barclays has already run one programme at its Rise facility in Cape Town, in October launching Tech Lab Africa, which worked with e-health and fintech startups in a bid to provide them with access to business mentors, industry leaders, influencers and experts.
The bank subsequently signed proof of concept agreements with three startups that participated in the programme, while ventures taking part in the programme raised US$10 million in funding.
