TECH STARS (663)
With its six divisions, Raizcorp works on a global scale to support the entrepreneurial ecosystem. To date, it has already supported 500 companies.
Raizcorp, a business incubator established in 2000, is dedicated to nurturing entrepreneurs at various stages of their business journey. Founded by CEO Allon Raiz, the organization serves as a hub for learning and guidance, facilitating tangible business success for entrepreneurs.
At the core of Raizcorp's mission is the creation, support, and development of entrepreneurs and the broader entrepreneurial ecosystem. By providing business incubation and acceleration services, the incubator aims to expedite the growth and prosperity of entrepreneurs. It also administers business and supplier development programs on behalf of companies.
Raizcorp extends equity investment opportunities to budding entrepreneurs, while also engaging in educational initiatives to foster entrepreneurial skills among school children. Moreover, the organization collaborates with governments and development agencies to establish robust entrepreneurial frameworks on a national scale.
It operates through six dedicated divisions. Notably, Arize, which offers dedicated support to entrepreneurs, and SEED, focusing on entrepreneurial development strategies in emerging markets like Africa and South America. The Partner Elite division provides scale-up capital to high-growth entrepreneurs in South Africa, while Canden manages non-traditional schools with an entrepreneurial curriculum.
Elixir, another division, assists companies in cultivating an entrepreneurial mindset and accessing relevant markets. It also aids entrepreneurial graduates in launching their own ventures. The Inspire division offers a range of motivational resources, such as books, inspiration packs, and posters, to support entrepreneurs on their journey.
To date, Raizcorp has empowered 500 businesses through its programs and oversees 13 incubators. Currently, 224 children are undergoing entrepreneurial training. The organization's impact extends across multiple countries, including South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, Angola, the United States, France, and Mauritius.
Melchior Koba
The fintech sector in Africa is experiencing exponential growth, with South African entrepreneur Paul Kent as one of the actors leading the charge. His start-up, which offers a range of digital payment solutions, already caters to tens of thousands of customers across the continent.
Paul Kent (photo), co-founder and CEO of Adumo, is making waves in the fintech sector. A South African native, Kent completed a management development programme at the University of the Witwatersrand in 2003 and earned an MBA from Spain’s IE Business School in 2015.
His fintech, Adumo, is a growth partner for businesses. It offers a seamless and secure omnichannel approach to accepting various types of payment products. The company’s mission is to help entrepreneurs manage, grow, simplify, and optimize their businesses through superior payment experiences.
It provides several employee incentive solutions and a gift and loyalty platform to enhance customer engagement. Adumo has developed standalone payment card machines and offers access to various types of online and point-of-sale payments. Through Adumo Capital, it provides entrepreneurs with initial business funding.
Currently, Adumo serves over 70,000 active customers in 13 African countries, handling more than 80 billion rand, or over $4 billion, in annual transaction value.
Kent, a certified director of the Institute of Directors in South Africa, is also the founder and director of SureSwipe, a card payment services provider established in 2008. Since 2020, he has served as a director of the Innervation financial company PAN African Payment Solutions. His professional career began in 2001 as an account manager at Healthbridge, a healthcare payment solutions provider.
Melchior Koba
As the tech landscape continues to evolve, entrepreneurship in new technologies is gaining prominence. Cyberschool Entrepreneuriat, based in Gabon, is positioning itself as a key player, spurring the youth to tap into the potential of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs).
Cyberschool Entrepreneuriat, a Gabon-based incubator specializing in new information and communication technologies (NICTs), leverages these technologies to foster entrepreneurship and aid young individuals in bringing their projects to fruition. The incubator, established in 2010 by Mve Asseko Simplice, an IT project management master’s degree holder, runs several training and support programs to cultivate an entrepreneurial mindset among Gabon’s youth.
The incubator has initiated a two-week training seminar for project leaders and those seeking to enhance their skills, focusing on business plan creation. To further assist its entrepreneurs, Cyberschool Entrepreneuriat has developed Business Booster, an application designed for business plan creation and project monitoring.
It regularly hosts a digital lunch for IT professionals and organizes development workshops. These workshops offer training in computer programming, software development, and IT project management to young individuals and professionals. The workshops aim to equip participants with the necessary tools to stay abreast of the latest technologies and trends, preparing them to work in teams and tackle the challenges of the IT industry.
Additionally, Cyberschool Entrepreneuriat offers training in graphic design and visual communication. This course enables students to master graphic design tools and software, principles of visual composition, and typography. It equips them with robust technical skills for producing high-quality visual communication media, creating effective graphic designs tailored to customer needs, and fostering the creativity and artistic flair required to design innovative and original projects.
Melchior Koba
A serial entrepreneur, she is mainly active in the digital and telecommunications sectors. Her latest innovation is an online platform designed to streamline hotel check-ins.
Franco-Gabonese finance expert and entrepreneur Selena Souah is the founder and CEO of REGCARD, a startup that launched its digital check-in card for express online hotel check-ins worldwide in 2022. The platform, which operates like a travel diary, allows hotels to perform express check-ins and check-outs for their guests at no cost and has a database of over 19,900 travellers.
Souah is also a co-founder and head of business development at International Schools Engineering, a management, investment, and consultancy group in the education sector established in 2013. In 2015, she co-founded Odyssey Education, a global French international education group offering education from nursery to sixth form.
In addition, Souah founded and presides Revolution’Air, a Rwanda-based telecommunications operator and internet service provider established in 2018. The company aims to establish a truly pan-African network and address connectivity and access issues in rural areas. Since January 2024, Souah has been a board member of Institut Aspen France.
Souah, a graduate of Maisons d’éducation de la Légion d’honneur in France, earned a bachelor’s degree in commerce and international business in 2008 and a master’s degree in general finance from ISC Paris in 2012. She began her professional career as a credit analyst at BGFIBank Gabon in 2011 before joining the French branch of Portuguese banking institution Banco Espírito Santo in 2012.
Melchior Koba
The tech entrepreneur specialized in education founded Nyereka Tech to provide innovative educational tools for African students and teachers. The company aims to play a significant role in the continent's educational and technological advancement.
Rwandan tech entrepreneur Shadrach Highflyer (photo) is the founder and CEO of Nyereka Tech, a startup that supplies experimental kits. Established in 2019, Nyereka Tech focuses on education and technology, specializing in the development and supply of innovative educational tools like IoT kits, STEM hardware, and robotics equipment.
The company offers a range of training services in areas such as IoT or microcontroller coding, circuit design, testing, electricity, electronics, software design, and robotics. These services are available to individuals, schools, companies, and centres.
"Nyereka Tech is a company founded on the purpose of resolving the pain points that our future and current innovators are experiencing. We’re collaborating with some of the top technology businesses on the planet to deliver the latest goods and ideas to more people all around the world in order to establish the ICT Innovation Journey. We’re constructing the company that will serve as the continent’s innovation hub," Highflyer explains.
Since 2022, the tech entrepreneur has been a mentor at The Cortex Hub, a British incubator for ICT companies in Rwanda. He also serves as an ambassador for Arm, a company that specialises in the construction of IP solutions.
Highflyer, a holder of two degrees in electrical and electronic engineering from Tumba College of Technology (2017) and the Institute of Information Science and Technology in Kobe, Japan (2019), served as a business mentor for the OIP Mentoring Program in August 2022, a program that supports young entrepreneurs in developing their startups.
Melchior Koba
After her studies and several years working as a software engineer in the United States, she returned to Kenya to help her community by establishing an education organization to help children learn about technology.
Nelly Cheboi (photo), a Kenyan computer scientist and entrepreneur, co-founded TechLit Africa, a non-profit organization aimed at promoting technological literacy in Africa. The organization, established in 2018, provides basic computer skills education to Kenyan students aged 5 to 14.
“Digital skills provide global opportunities,” Cheboi said in 2023. “These kids are doing so much. They have Zoom calls with NASA. They are so open to the world.”
TechLit Africa facilitates the establishment of computer labs in African schools by distributing recycled and refurbished computers. It currently serves 4,000 students across 10 computer labs and plans to construct an additional 100 labs to accommodate 40,000 more students.
After earning her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science and Applied Mathematics from Augustana College in the U.S. in 2016, Cheboi joined New World Van Lines, a U.S.-based domestic and international household goods removal company. She held various positions, including business analyst and software engineer, between 2016 and 2018.
She later took on multiple software engineering roles at companies such as logistics firm ShipBob, children’s coding program Kodable, and User Hero, a tech company that assists businesses in conducting and organizing user research.
Cheboi’s contributions through TechLit Africa have earned her several accolades. In 2021, she received the Richard Swanson Humanitarian Award from Augustana College and was named in the Forbes 30 under 30 list for her social impact. In 2022, she was honored with the CNN Hero Award.
Melchior Koba
The Senegalese entrepreneur leverages robotics to streamline operations for businesses and institutions. He leads a company that enables users to remotely control autonomous robots from any location.
Senegalese innovator, education expert, and serial entrepreneur Sidy Ndao (photo), born in 1987, is the founder and CEO of Caytu, a startup specializing in participatory assisted teleoperation for autonomous robotics.
Established in 2021, Caytu provides a participatory robotics platform that enables autonomous robots to be remotely piloted by outsourced pilots worldwide. The platform assists companies in task creation, robot assignment, deployment management, and fleet data analysis. Its software can integrate any robotics hardware or application through its API.
Caytu also offers a virtual training platform to cultivate a global workforce of autonomous robot operators. The digital platform equips operators with the necessary skills to operate robots safely and efficiently.
Ndao is also the founder and president of the Dakar American University of Science and Technology. Established in 2017, the university offers teaching and research opportunities in engineering and technology for undergraduate and graduate students, aimed at developing technological solutions to address Africa’s societal needs and challenges.
An education consultant with the World Bank Group, Ndao founded the Pan-African Robotics Competition in 2015. The competition brings together robotics teams from colleges and high schools across Africa and its diaspora.
Ndao earned his master’s degree in mechanical engineering from The City College of New York in 2007. He is also a graduate of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, where he defended his doctoral thesis in mechanical engineering in 2010. He spent a year (2011-2012) at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology as a postdoctoral associate. From 2012 to 2021, he served as an assistant professor and then associate professor in the Department of Mechanical and Materials Engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.
Melchior Koba
Last Wednesday, Guinea's President Mamadi Doumbouya reshuffled his cabinet. Rose Pola Pricemou, previously Minister of Planning and International Cooperation, was named Minister of Posts, Telecommunications, and the Digital Economy.
Guinean IT expert and politician, Rose Pola Pricemou (photo), has been appointed as the country’s Minister of Posts, Telecommunications and the Digital Economy, taking office on March 16, 2024, under the chairmanship of Benoit Kamano, Minister and Secretary-General of the Government.
“In the continuity of progress, my team and I are determined to continue the efforts undertaken by my predecessors,” Pricemou said in her inaugural speech.
Pricemou pledged to continue the digitization of public services for increased efficiency and to bolster the security of electronic transactions. She also plans to ensure the safety of public and private information systems to foster a secure and resilient Guinean cyberspace. Additionally, she aims to expand the services of the Guinean Post for broader national coverage, with a focus on financial services and e-commerce.
Before her latest appointment, Pricemou served as the country’s Minister of Planning and International Cooperation since November 2022. She joined the government in 2021 as Minister of Information and Communication, and from August to November 2022, she held the position of Minister of Trade, Industry and SMEs.
Pricemou, a graduate of the University of Montreal, Canada, earned a master’s degree in computer science in 2008. She also holds a master’s degree in information technology management from Laval University in Quebec City, obtained in 2010.
Pricemou’s professional career began in 2009 at the Ministry of Revenue of the Republic of Guinea as a functional analyst. In 2010, she joined Nurun, an IT services and consultancy company, as an IT systems development and integration consultant. She also served as the director of the strategy and development office of the ministry responsible for investment and public-private partnerships from March 2019 to January 2022.
Melchior Koba
TIEC is committed to fostering innovative ideas that positively transform the country. It offers training programs and collaborative spaces essential to the growth and success of entrepreneurs.
The Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center (TIEC) is an innovation center affiliated with the Egyptian Ministry of Communication and Information Technology. Since its inception in September 2010, the center has been dedicated to catalyzing innovation and entrepreneurship, driving tangible impact across Egypt.
The TIEC seeks to unleash creative solutions and innovative ideas that have an impact on Egypt. On its website, it says it aims to spur innovation and entrepreneurship in Egypt, fostering a knowledge-based economy. To achieve this, the center develops strategies, provides facilities, and promotes intellectual property frameworks, the website adds.
Under the leadership of its president, Hossam Osman, the center supports research and development in the local ICT industry, finances startups, and promotes Egypt as a relocation destination. It offers one-to-one professional consulting services to startups and companies in areas such as finance, digital marketing, sales, and business development. It also offers a free workspace where technology companies, investors and techstars can meet, work, learn, and collaborate.
The Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center offers several programs to support young entrepreneurs, including InnovEgypt. InnovEgypt aims to turn students and graduates into successful entrepreneurs. It is a training program in innovation and entrepreneurship.
The center also organizes a series of conferences covering various technological topics. Called the TIECnovation Talks Program, this initiative aims to promote technological innovation among entrepreneurs, young professionals, recent graduates and students.
Since its inception, 509,468 people have participated in a training program organized or facilitated by TIEC. The center has supported 13,168 entrepreneurs and 2,206 startups. In addition, 7,425 ideas or solutions developed by individuals or teams have already been submitted to TIEC as a result of its programs, events, and activities. The Technology Innovation and Entrepreneurship Center has also created 71,283 job opportunities.
Melchior Koba
He has over 25 years of experience in telecommunications and technology. As head of Benya, he has led the development of award-winning digital products and services.
Ahmed Mekky (photo) is an Egyptian entrepreneur who graduated from Cairo University in 1995 with a Bachelor's degree in Computer Engineering, and from the University of Nottingham with a Master's degree in Information Technology. He is the CEO of Benya, a provider of digital solutions and ICT infrastructure in the MEA (Middle East and Africa) region.
Founded in 2017, the company offers a multitude of digital products, services and solutions. Be it telecommunication services, security and cloud solutions, large-scale data centers, manufacturing technology-based solutions and systems integration, Benya operates in various ICT verticals.
"Benya represents a long standing dream which was realized in 2017, and driven by a solid belief that digital transformation is an essential pillar to the advancement of any country. Through our 4 subsidiaries established to cater to different ICT verticals, and with an ultimate goal to provide a complete ICT value chain, our primary geographic focus is Africa and the Middle East," explains Mekky.
The entrepreneur is also a board member of the Endeavor Egypt entrepreneurial community. He is also Chairman of Fiber Connect Council MENA, an industry organization that aims to accelerate the availability of fiber-based ultra-high-speed access networks for consumers and businesses.
Before Benya, Ahmed Mekky co-founded Gulf Bridge International (GBI) in 2008, where he was a board member until 2017 and Chairman and CEO until 2015. GBI is a global provider of cloud, connectivity and content services that owns and operates a fully managed, intelligent service network.
The entrepreneur has received several awards for his impact on digital transformation in the MEA region. He received the Industry CEO of the Year award issued in 2020 by Telecom Review. In 2021, he received the Excellence in Digital Transformation Award from Business Today Magazine and the Merit Leader Award from Telecom Review. In 2022, he received the Embracing Modernization Award from Business Today Magazine.
Melchior Koba
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Through Yoco, a South African payments company, he aims to simplify processes for businesses and offer tools to boost their growth.
Katlego Maphai (photo), a South African tech entrepreneur and University of Cape Town graduate, is the co-founder and CEO of Yoco, a fintech company established in 2013 and officially launched in 2015. Yoco aims to empower entrepreneurs by providing them with innovative business tools and financial services, thereby creating new markets and avenues for success.
Yoco provides small businesses with accessible payment solutions through its Yoco App. This app enables businesses to track payments, monitor sales, and send invoices directly from their smartphones. Additionally, Yoco offers a card dispenser that can be integrated with a tablet to enhance business sales processes.
“Micro and small businesses make up the majority of businesses that drive the majority of employment in the country and contribute at least half of the GDP. And they’re just not being looked after. We just realized that we could have the highest impact on these customers, and founded the company in 2013. But we actually only launched at the end of 2015,” Maphai explained in 2022.
The tech entrepreneur embarked on his professional journey in 2003 as an intern at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC). He later served as a consultant at Accenture, a business services and consulting firm, in 2006. In 2008, he joined Delta Partners Group, a telecommunications consulting, corporate finance, and private equity firm. By 2012, he was part of the corporate development team at Rocket Internet, a venture capital firm and online startup incubator.
Melchior Koba
An entrepreneur with a passion for technological innovation, he offers cutting-edge technological solutions to SMEs, guiding them towards a successful digital transformation.
Mozambican entrepreneur Edilson Alberto (photo) is the founder and CEO of Tech Solutions, a software company dedicated to solving problems through technology, helping small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) grow in their sectors and go digital.
Founded in 2020, Tech Solutions creates solutions to everyday problems. It develops different types of websites, applications, and systems according to its customers' needs. It also does graphic design and takes care of communications and branding for companies.
The company has developed several products. These include SGDoc, E-gado, and Kaia. SGDoc is a system created for public institutions that process mailings and wish to streamline and better control document flow.
E-gado is a system designed for livestock farmers. It enables them to better control their animals and record all kinds of events with them. Kaia, meanwhile, is a platform designed for real estate agents who want to streamline the process of finding homes in Mozambique through technological means.
Alberto, who is currently studying computer science at the Illinois Institute of Technology, also serves as the Director of Entrepreneurship at Intinium, an organization within the institute that empowers students to realize their dreams and pursue their passions.
In addition, he holds leadership roles in several professional associations. He is the Vice-President of the technology sector of the Mozambican Association of Human Resources Companies and Professionals (AMEPRH) and the President of the Technology Department of the Association of SMEs of Mozambique. Since 2019, he has been a lecturer at the Institute of Innovation Technologies and Services in his home country.
Melchior Koba
Since its inception, the company has been dedicated to aiding young entrepreneurs and project leaders in transforming their concepts into profitable businesses. Over the course of seven years, it has provided training and support to more than 500 young individuals.
Kinstartup Academy, a Congolese training academy and startup incubator, has been dedicated to discovering, training, and promoting startups or project bearers wishing to establish their own businesses since its inception in 2017. The academy, founded by President and CEO Shola Deen, provides entrepreneurs with essential resources for their start-ups.
“The academy equips participants with essential information and concepts, everything an aspiring entrepreneur needs to launch into entrepreneurship and develop their business in a concrete and effective way,” Dean explains.
In addition to its training programs, Kinstartup Academy hosts a televised competition for young Congolese entrepreneurs and project leaders. The competition, which has already run for four seasons, offers training and coaching from expert trainers and experienced business leaders. The jury comprises professionals from financial institutions and business management educators.
The academy also organizes several conferences in fields such as edtech and healthtech and has established the Kinshasa Innovation Forum, a major forum dedicated to promoting innovation. Through its Face the Leopards platform, it connects investors with the entrepreneurs it has trained and supported.
To date, Kinstartup Academy has raised awareness among over 50,000 young people, identified over 2,000 project leaders, trained and supported over 500 young people, and created over 1,000 jobs. Beneficiaries of the Academy’s programs include Cedric Onaya, founder of Ebushafu, a digital waste management platform in the DRC, and Josè Rodriguez, founder of Uzuri RDC, an online shopping mall and digital marketplace offering products and services for professional sellers and individual customers.
Melchior Koba
A self-taught entrepreneur, he boasts 10+ years of experience in the field. He developed a real estate rental platform operating in Gabon and Benin.
Fulgence Menouho (photo), a self-taught entrepreneur with a passion for innovation and growth, is co-founder and CEO of Cabalou, a Gabon-based startup dedicated to helping business travelers and professionals find and book furnished accommodation.
Founded in 2021 by Menouho and Aude Késia Obiang, Cabalou is an accommodation solution designed for professionals, enabling them to book and stay in comfortable, reliable, and well-located accommodation for their activities. The startup's vision is to become the most loved, most used, and most profitable travel platform for professionals in Africa by 2030.
For accommodation owners, Cabalou offers total autonomy, from managing their accommodation to communicating with travelers and hassle-free tracking of transactions. In Gabon, the startup lists 300 apartments, 150 hosts, and has a presence in four cities. In February 2024, it added Cotonou, Benin, to its destination list.
In 2023, Cabalou was selected as part of YouthConnekt Gabon, an initiative of the United Nations Development Program. The startup received technical support and around $166,500 (XAF100 million) in funding.
Between 2014 and January 2024, Menouho independently led and pioneered entrepreneurial ventures, leveraging the Internet to assist individuals across various backgrounds in establishing their home-based businesses for income generation.
Melchior Koba