Eleven tech startups have graduated from the second Google Launchpad Accelerator Africa class in Lagos, raising a combined $12 million in funding before and during the program.
Folagbade Olatunji-David, head of startup success and services for Launchpad Accelerator Africa, revealed that the 11 startups received a combined $110,000 in equity-free funding from Google, and collectively the 33 founders have already created 253 jobs and raised more than $12 million in funding, according to Ventureburn.
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Details of specific investments raised by each startup were not disclosed, and will be announced in due course.
By comparison, the first class that graduated in June raised over $7 million during the course of the program, directly creating 132 jobs, according to Techfinancials.
In the next three years, Google’s Launchpad Accelerator Africa program will offer $3 million in equity-free funding to over 60 startups across the continent, along with mentorship, working space, travel, public relations support, and access to tech and business experts from Google, Silicon Valley, and Africa.
As part of the three-month program, the participating startups engaged with 48 mentors from Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia, the United Arab Emirates, the U.K., and the U.S., according to ITNewsAfrica.
Following the successful conclusion of the first Google Africa Launchpad Accelerator program in June this year, the tech company announced the second class of tech startups which would benefit from the three-month accelerator program, according to Ventureburn.
The Google Africa Launchpad Accelerator program then opened applications for its second class of tech startups, extending it to 11 additional African countries, bringing the total number of countries eligible to apply up to 17, according to PCTechmag.
Startups throughout Africa took advantage of this, with over 250 applications coming in from 11 nations around the continent.
Eleven startups were selected from a total of six countries, with the Africa-specific accelerator concluding this past week in Lagos.
The successful graduates include AppZone, Formplus, Medsaf and Thank U Cash from Nigeria, with Pineapple and Preeva representing South Africa’s startup ecosystem, according to ITWeb.
Other early-stage startups that completed the program include Cloud9xp and PayGo Energy from Kenya, Chalkboard Education from Ghana, EzyAgric from Uganda, and Mintrics from Egypt.
The startups, which were selected because they are focused on solving unique African problems, participated in a three-month program in the Nigerian city.
In 2017, Google launched a mentorship program that is specifically focused on supporting African tech entrepreneurs, launching a new Google Launchpad space in Lagos, which was the venue for the Google Launchpad Accelerator Africa program, according to IOL.
The Google Launchpad Space in Nigeria is the first onsite location for the program outside of the U.S.
The latest cohort of startups graduating builds on the success of the first class of 12 startups that completed the same program earlier in the year. This group of companies included six from Nigeria, two from Kenya, and one each from Uganda, Tanzania, Ghana and South Africa, with each startup receiving $10,000 in an equity-free cash grant.
Among the startups that graduated from the initial class were Ghanaian new media startup OMG Digital, known as the “BuzzFeed of Africa”, Nigeria’s Piggybank.ng, an app which enables users to reach their savings targets through a combination of discipline and flexibility, Tanzanian media streaming startup TangoTV, and South African startup swiftVEE, an online platform that connects livestock agencies to a network of buyers and sellers.
The next Google Launchpad Accelerator Africa class will begin in 2019, with the participating startups yet to be selected.
