The solution behind the startup was established as SmartWage. Later, its founders decided to broaden its offering. So they updated its name. 

Jem is a digital solution developed by a South African startup. It enables employers to share documents and information with their out-of-office employees. The Cape Town-based startup was founded, in 2019, under the name SmartWage by Alex Platt, Caroline van der Merwe, Nick Platt, and Simon Ellis. It has raised around $2.5 million to, among other things, support its growth and develop its technology.

"Payslips and leaves are still done manually with paper printouts, while employee communication is done using notice boards or apps, which have huge usage drop-offs. Onboarding and disciplinary procedures are still paper-based, costing businesses precious time, money, and resources," says Simon Ellis.

The digital solution is accessible via WhatsApp instant messaging app, so users won't have to download any apps from the Play Store or App Store. Jem allows users to receive company-wide communications, access payslips, request time off, or even access financial wellness products, all via WhatsApp.

"If we can save employers time and money through digitization, we can bridge the gap between South African enterprises and their frontline employees, helping enterprises connect clearly and dynamically with their employees, whilst offering financial wellness tools at the same time," explains Simon Ellis.

To share payslips via the solution, each employee pays 4.90 rand (approx. $0.26) per month, and to receive all communications, the rate rises to 8.9 rand. The startup also offers access to salary advances that need to be repaid the following month. 

Adoni Conrad Quenum

The solution aims to help people build financial discipline.

Alvin App is a fintech solution developed by a Kenyan startup. It helps users efficiently manage, save, and grow their money.  

"The only personal finance apps we could find in Kenya were not optimized for the local context, they offered no guidance to help us acquire the assets we wanted to save toward, and only offered the ability to save but gave no daily support to help us save for goals that require consistency for long periods.[...] Alvin is ultimately designed to be your daily pocket companion that makes it dead simple to feel like you’re in control of your financial situation, and that every day," explains Winston Reid, CEO of Alvin.

Through the Alvin Android app (only the Android app is available for the time being), users can create their accounts and set spending and saving goals to let the app track their budgets. Alvin defines daily, weekly, and monthly spending thresholds, enabling users to track the evolution of their savings.

In addition to setting up the budget, Alvin assists the user daily by sending budget alerts. It also carries out comparative analysis based on current and past spending. The analysis aims to help users build and stick to spending habits that facilitate the achievement of predefined saving goals. 

"For anyone to build sustainable saving habits, they need to have sustainable spending habits. And doing this requires giving people more support than reminders to make deposits," says Winston Reid. 

In 2022, the startup behind the app raised $740,000 to accelerate its growth. At the time, it indicated that the app was in its private beta phase, adding that it was planning to go international. 

Adoni Conrad Quenum

In various sectors, AI is constantly pushing the boundaries of knowledge. In Africa particularly, tech entrepreneurs are leveraging it to offer tailor-made and innovative solutions to identified challenges.

Baby Cry Insights is a mobile application developed by Nigerian start-up Ubenwa. It helps parents interpret their babies’ cries. 

“Ubenwa is building a diagnostic tool that understands when a baby’s cry is a cry for medical attention. [...] Ultimately, our goal is to be a translator for baby cry sounds, providing a non-invasive way to monitor medical conditions everywhere you find a baby: delivery rooms, neonatal and pediatric intensive care units, nurseries, and in the home,” explains Charles Onu, CEO and co-founder of Ubenwa. 

Baby Cry Insights is available for Android and iOS devices. Using any of those versions, a user can create a profile and record the cries of the baby to be monitored. The embedded AI-powered system then analyzes the cries to pinpoint the potential triggers identified. Whether it's fear, pain, discomfort, or hunger, the user will know the baby’s sentiment at that moment and act accordingly. 

Baby Cry Insights sends a "report to better understand acoustic markers such as pitch frequency and intensity, and track which soothing technique worked best for your little one,” we learn.

The application also enables a user to share a baby’s profile with a second parent or nanny to make babysitting easier. With features like routine monitoring and health information, it facilitates the monitoring of babies’ daily routines such as sleeping, eating, breastfeeding, and any disturbances in their state of health. Users can thus anticipate medical assistance and better manage their baby's state of health.

Since its launch in 2017, the startup behind the solution has raised about $2.3 million to develop its technology and support growth. The Android version of its app has been downloaded more than a thousand times.

Adoni Conrad Quenum

Upon returning to her native Ethiopia after her engineering studies in India, Samrawit Tarekegn discovered the challenges faced by women who were passionate about their careers but still needed to take care of their children. She then decided to set up what she describes as "The Uber for Nannies" to address those challenges. 

Mogzit In-Home Care is a technological solution developed by an Ethiopian start-up. It connects nannies with parents looking for people who will look after their children. The Addis Ababa-based start-up behind the app was founded in 2021 by Samrawit Tarekegn, Tigist Alene, Rahel Tarekegn, and Biniam Asnake. It aims to provide “flexible and convenient home service [...] at an affordable cost.” Its nannies are trained to, among other things, prepare meals, help with homework, tidy up children's areas, or administer medication with parental consent.

“As the youngest child in my family, I witnessed my older sisters, who are married and passionate about their careers, struggling to find reliable and consistent childcare when they returned to work after giving birth. [...] One of my sisters was forced to leave her child with neighbors whenever she went to work,” explains Samrawit Tarekegn, the originator of the Mogzit In-Home Care idea.

For the time being, the startup has no mobile app for its solution. Users must therefore access its services through its web platform. They can browse the profiles of the over 350 nannies listed on Mogzit In-Home Care. To book one, a user needs to press the "Book a Nanny" button and click on the profile of one of the many nannies on the page. They then click on the "See details" button to see all the information on the chosen nanny. This includes name, surname, age, languages spoken, neighborhood, rates, etc.

If the user validates the profile, he or she can go ahead and book the nanny. Then, the user needs to provide all their information on the platform, including the number of children to be looked after and their place of residence. "Following the booking, our team arranges an in-person or virtual interview in our presence to go over the needs of the parent as well as the services to be provided by the nanny. If an agreement is reached, a legal contract is signed between the two," says Samrawit Tarekegn.

In addition to the on-demand nanny service, the startup also offers on-demand cooks, tutors, and housekeepers services. It wants to introduce other profiles to provide even more comprehensive services.

"Currently, Mogzit is actively registering college graduates in Clinical Nursing, Social Work, and Psychology onto our platform, thereby expanding our workforce. Such graduates can come aboard Mogzit if they meet the criteria," said Samrawit Tarekegn.

Adoni Conrad Quenum