Ten African tech startups have been selected to take part in the #Africa4Future accelerator programme, which helps aerospace startups speed up their innovation and scale.
Disrupt Africa reported in November on the launch of #Africa4Future, which is an initiative of global aerospace accelerator Airbus BizLab, GIZ’s Make-IT in Africa and the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST).
The programme aims to assist talented African entrepreneurs using innovative aerospace based solutions to tackle the continent’s most pressing challenges such as transportation, agriculture and healthcare.
After 314 entries were received from companies representing 19 African countries, 10 have been chosen to take part. They include three from Kenya – drone company Astral Aerial, environmental monitoring solution Lentera, and water monitoring solution MobiTech Water Solutions – and two from South Africa – smart manufacturing company Elemental Numerics, and wireless charging solution WiPo Wireless Power.
The rest of the cohort is made up of drone companies Cote d’Ivoire drone (Ivory Coast) and Maisha ICT Tech (Ethiopia), health supplies delivery platform MamaBird (Malawi), urban mapping solution Map Action (Mali), and construction project management tool Track Your Build (Nigeria).
#Africa4Future begins with an intensive six-month business incubation and accelerator programme involving technical, commercial and mentorship activities in France, Germany and South Africa. This includes workshops and coaching sessions with Airbus experts as well as Make-IT in Africa, MEST and Innocircle coaches.
The programme will culminate with demo day events at the biennial Paris International Airshow and a special event in Germany from June 19-26, when finalists will launch their products, define their collaboration with Airbus and announce their investment commitments in front of representatives from across the aerospace industry.
