Ten Francophone African tech startups have been selected to take part in the second residency organised by the World Bank’s L’Afrique Excelle accelerator, which will see them take part in venture showcases at the Afrobytes and VivaTech events in France.
The World Bank Group launched L’Afrique Excelle, the Francophone edition of the XL Africa accelerator it implemented in 2017, in November in partnership with the Tubaniso Agribusiness and Innovation Centre and managed by VC4A, Suguba and SahelInnov.
Twenty Francophone Africa-focused tech startups, all of them post-revenue and aiming to raise between US$250,000 and US$5 million in funding, were selected to take part in March. The six-month programme, which offers participants access to funding, networks, mentoring and a community of like-minded entrepreneurs, kicked off with a one-week residency in Bamako, Mali.
Ten of the startups taking part have now been selected to travel to France for the second residency in France. Half of those are from Senegal: deliveries platform PAPS, advertising agency Firefly Media, multichannel mobile platform LAfricaMobile, mobility and ticketing startup SudPay, and software publishing company Eyone.
Cameroon is represented by three startups, namely mobile video startup StarNews Mobile, mobile-based maternal health education solution GiftedMom, and digital payments startup Diool, while the final two selected are Ivory Coast-based travel startup TripAfrique and Tanzanian solar startup Solaris Offgrid.
The residency will kick off with two days at The Camp in Aix-en-Provence, where the founders will meet local angel investors, take part in workshops and get connected with the thriving startup ecosystem in the south of France. Following this, startups will receive one-on-one advice from Deloitte experts in Paris on subjects such as tax, legal, corporate governance, corporate partnerships and valuations.
L’Afrique Excelle venture showcases will take place at two major industry events – Afrobytes on May 15 and VivaTech on May 16. Investors interested in attending either session can get all the details here.
The other 10 startups taking part in the accelerator were digital financial services startup MaTontine, e-commerce and international transport company Ouicarry, solar home systems developer OniriQ, digital lending platform AmA, wireless communication platform LiFi, solar-powered bin developer LONO, water prepayment service CityTaps, data annotation service SmartOne, FMCG startup Optimetriks, and virtual market Exportunity Global Trade Hub.
