• The finalists for the Africa Ignite Pitch Competition have been named over a month after a call for entries was issued.
• Startups from across the African continent will compete for a spot at the Startup World Cup happening in the US later this year.
• The pitch competition will take place at AfricaCom/Africa Tech Festival next month.

Over a month ago, AfricaIgnite issued a call to African startups to submit entries for its Pitch Competition. Now, the top 10 finalists for the pitch competition where a startup will be selected to travel to the US for the finals of the Startup World Cup in December have been named.

The AfricaIgnite Pitch Competition will take place at AfricaCom/Africa Tech Festival on 16th November. While a trip to the US is nice, the startup selected to travel to the Startup World Cup will also stand a chance of winning a $1 million prize.

“Congratulations to everyone who entered. We called for the continent’s brightest, most inspiring founders to apply to help build the African innovation ecosystem and they certainly delivered,” said senior director of events at Connecting Africa | Informa Tech, James Williams.

“I know I speak for my colleagues, the investors and judges who will be closely monitoring the pitch competition, when I say that Africa’s talent, ingenuity, and unmatched potential is abundant and diverse, and this is clearly represented in this broad array of finalists. It is therefore going to be no small task to select just one winner who will represent the continent at the Startup World Cup Final, held by Pegasus in San Francisco on 1st December,” Williams added.

The 10 finalists selected to compete in the pitch competition are listed below:

AsaanaPay – A payments and rewards platform for minority-owned businesses enabling offline and online payments and unrestricted cash-back rewards to attract and retain customers. Asaana facilitates local and global payments through a variety of channels from mobile wallets and traditional banks to everything in between. Headquartered in Kenya, Asaana services the world.

Tausi App – An app that connects beauticians to clients and provides professional hair and make-up and other services to make clients feel fabulous, with a rating system and in-depth onboarding process that is simple to use. Headquartered in Kenya with more than 6 000 registered beauticians on their books and have helped more than 20 000 clients.

Bus54 – Based in Nigeria, Bus54 is a mobility technology company providing a platform to aggregate intercity bus transportation in Africa, allowing passengers to search, compare, book, and manage their journeys online. The platform enables transport operators to manage their end-to-end operations from a secure portal with no need for additional investment in IT software or hardware, and an additional channel to sell their tickets.

Delta Scan – A specialist engineering inspection, digitisation and BIM company based in South Africa that digitises the world around us to create powerful analytical 3D models to extract engineering value. The company strives to improve efficiency, bring down costs, and provide comprehensive information to make better-informed decisions. Combining cutting-edge aerial platforms and scanning technology together with 3D digitization, artificial intelligence and engineering analysis principles.

Oneway Connect – A cutting-edge job matching and recruitment software prioritizing cultural alignment that is shaping the future of hiring. Beyond traditional CVs, the platform evaluates capabilities and traits, fostering purposeful performers for businesses. At the heart of their mission is creating a fair candidate experience. With a simple click, jobseekers are seamlessly connected to their ideal roles while assessments empower employers to truly understand candidates’ potential beyond mere keywords.

Ukwenza VR – A social enterprise based in Kenya that focuses on creating educational Virtual Reality (VR) content to complement classroom learning and offer additional learning on social and environmental issues e.g. conservation and plastic pollution.

Hippocampus Education – Hippocampus is an adaptive tutoring Facebook Messenger bot that provides differentiated instruction and instant feedback that is customized to meet each individual’s learning needs. It acts as a liaison between the lecturer and the student or between the tutor and the student, supporting assessment activities, facilitating a learning environment that meets each student’s learning needs, and providing positive and constructive feedback on the progress and performance of the student.

BenaCare – A Kenyan-based social enterprise that delivers affordable clinical and supportive care to patients with life-limiting illnesses in the comfort of their own homes. They also reduce and re-distribute unpaid care performed by women family caregivers in rural Kenya, by training them on the basics of caregiving like wound care, vitals taking, grooming, ambulation, pressure care and toileting. In this way BenaCare improves the outcome of the patients taken care of and equips these women with caregiving skills which can then earn them a living.

Gradlinc – More than a matchmaker between graduate and employer and vice versa, Gradlinc helps prepare graduates for the workplace from helping with CVs to creating personal brands and is free to graduates.  It is a vital two-way bridge between ‘people’, not jobs and workers, as matching values, and individuality in people – whether the graduate or the employer – builds long-term successful relationships with mutual benefits.

Kyanda Africa – Seamless payment solutions with easy financial reach, Nairobi-based Kyanda Africa provides safe and easy access to financial and related services simultaneously in an affordable, efficient, and transparent manner for all at all times. They are on a mission to drive down the number of unbanked and underbanked people across Africa.