Moody’s Corporation and Village Capital have launched the second edition of the Future of Work Africa accelerator programme, selecting 45 startups building for-profit, market-based solutions in education and employment that can help young people in sub-Saharan Africa better prepare for the future workplace.
The Future of Work Africa accelerator provides selected companies with access to self-guided training, extensive virtual support and engagement with mentors.
Selected from a pool of 196 applicants, the 45 startups are sourced from 23 countries and will be distributed between two cohorts – a core cohort of 15 startups, and an expanded cohort of 30 startups that will undergo self-guided training, extensive virtual support and engagement with mentors.
Each startup selected for the accelerator will work closely with mentors, potential clients and partners, as well as investors to help scale their impact, using tools developed to help their self-evaluation, such as Village Capital’s Abaca.
Below are the startups that make up the core cohort:
- Chuuse (Nigeria) is building a hybrid school to help African youths learn in-demand technology skills that companies need, specifically in the tech space
- Waape (Uganda) uses AI to connect teams to Africa’s top tech and creative talent
- Amplified Careers Centre (Zimbabwe) career counselling programs and services, career information materials, trainings and continuous support systems
- UmuravaWork (Rwanda) is a pan-African customised Freelance Talent Marketplace and Workforce Outsourcing Platform, connecting Africa’s Top Freelance Talents to jobs and projects in the in-demand sectors both locally and globally
- Talenteum (Mauritius) is a Pan-African platform designed to help companies source and employ remote-working teams based mainly in Africa
- Scalein (Nigeria) connects sales talent to opportunities across Africa within minutes
- Farwell Innovations Ltd (Kenya) develops and deploys web portals and end-to-end eLearning platforms to corporate organisations
- Stranerd (Nigeria) is a classroom management and exam preparation peer learning platform that enables easy, convenient and accessible learning
- LetaWera Technologies (Kenya) is a mobile application that enables customers to connect with gig service providers within their neighbourhoods conveniently
- Project CodeX (South Africa) is an upskilling institution that provides programming skills training to youth from under-resourced, underrepresented communities
- Fundis (Kenya) is a gig matching platform that connects clients to Africa’s informal sector workers enabling them to find & hire competent, vetted & certified artisans
- Onesha Technologies (Kenya) is a digital marketplace for SMEs to hire affordable, skilled, and vetted African freelancers and creatives on demand
- Twende Pamoja (DRC) is a social enterprise that works to alleviate extreme poverty by providing income-generating asset loans and training to low-income individuals.
- Kazi Remote (Kenya) is a social enterprise that leverages youth talent to provide digital services to companies in transcription, captions, subtitling, content writing, and translation on a gig-based model
- Eloh Enterprise (South Africa) is a mobile application that connects customers to accessible, reliable, pre-vetted service providers with just a tap/click on their smartphone
“Meaningful employment for African youth is foundational to improving financial health and driving a strong economy. With one-third of the 600 million young people entering the global labor market by 2030 projected to be a young African, there’s a great need to strengthen models that bridge the skills gap, enhance employability, and prepare job candidates for the shifting job landscape. Entrepreneurs across the region are already developing scalable solutions and we’re proud to continue supporting them through this program,” said Audrey Mate, programme manager for Africa at Village Capital.
