A total of 21 startups from across East Africa have been selected to participate in the Nairobi-based Traction Camp, a regional programme aimed at nurturing startups to create globally competitive, growth-oriented mobile and digital technology businesses.
Disrupt Africa reported last year m:lab East Africa and the World Bank Group had launched the Traction Camp initiative, which is just one of a series of accelerator programmes being launched by the World Bank across Africa.
The objectives of the programme are to support rapid refinement of business models towards scalability and expansion, as well as facilitating human capital development among core startup team members, increasing investment readiness of entrepreneurs, and enabling startups to design effective monetisation and customer acquisition strategies.
The startups selected to take part in the programme, which begins this month, include 10 from Kenya, namely Illuminum Greenhouses, Shield Finance, Totohealth, Kleva Plus, SunPoynt, DreamAfrica, Bluewave Insurance Agency, Ukulima Tech, MyAfya and SapamaERP.
Uganda is represented by five companies – MobFit, Tamithi, K&G Solar Power, Patasente and Mobilized Construction – and Ethiopia by three, namely ZayRide, Online Hisabu and Business TYC.
Tanzania is represented by Simon Tito Foods and Kokote, while there is one Rwandan startup on the list, a company called Yubeyi.
The programme will consist of two weeks of intensive training followed by up to six months of personalised coaching, tailored to each entrepreneur’s needs. Participating companies will receive technical assistance to improve their marketability to early-stage financiers through an emphasis on strengthening business and financial models and outlining preparations for the capital raising process through detailed coursework on entrepreneurial finance.
