Four startups have been named winners of the African leg of the MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge, and will now advance to the global final for the chance to win US$250,000 in prize money.
Organised each year by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the MIT Inclusive Innovation Challenge offers cash prizes to entrepreneurs from around the world that have developed technological solutions to empower working people and encourage economic growth.
Twenty finalists were selected in each of five regions -Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, and the United States (US) and Canada – from almost 2,000 submissions, with finalists pitching for a place at the global final on November 21. There, startups will compete for the chance to take home US$250,000 in cash.
Twelve African startups took part in the continent’s regional final in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, last week, with four winners named. They were Egyptian on-demand services platform Taskty, Kenyan daycare platform Tiny Totos, Nigerian lending service Social Lender, and South African retailer stock-ordering app Shopit.
The other eight African finalists were Ghanaian startups Bloom Impact and Farmerline, South African companies Inclusivity Solutions and Indlu, Rwanda’s Kumwe Solutions, Egypt’s Forasna, Kenya’s Flare, and the East Africa-focused Indian company Shortlist.
