Orbit Startups, a new programme from US venture firm SOSV, has named the 10 startups chosen for its inaugural cohort, two of which hail from Nigeria.
Orbit encapsulates existing SOSV programmes MOX and Chinaccelerator, and reflects those programmes’ shift in recent years to the geographies of Southeast and South Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Latin America.
The two selected Nigerian startups are GetFundedAfrica, a platform leveraging media and technology to help startups across Africa find funding; and Kredi Bank, a full-service digital bank building a one-stop-shop for digital financial services in Africa. The other selected startups hailed from India, Pakistan and Singapore.
The startups have each received initial funding of about US$180,000 together with access to an intensive programme that supports their growth across emerging and frontier markets.
“We are eager to scale breakthrough startups from around the world across emerging and frontier markets, where there are more inefficiencies, fewer legacy industries, and the most opportunities for aggressive growth,” said William Bao Bean, general partner at SOSV and managing director of Orbit Startups.
“Orbit selects tech players that can impact millions of lives at once – startups that are solving monumental problems in healthcare, education, finance, media and logistics; and startups that are future-proofing the local economy through digitalisation.”
