Startups to watch out for this year despite Corona getting notable accolades. The entrepreneurs behind them continue to innovate after a difficult period, and African startups are included. They are changing the narrative for a continent that many perceived as a poverty-ridden, disease-stricken hub making its way out of the Stone Age. However, Africa has slowly transformed itself into a centre of commerce in recent years.
Many entrepreneurs are making significant moves to address the continent’s needs; below are 11 African startups to watch out for in 2022.
1. GetEquity
First on our list of Startups To Watch Out For in 2022 is the crowdfunding platform GetEquity. The founders are Nigerians Jude Dike and Williams Okafor. The company is registered and has its head office in Delaware, USA. The founders’ mission is to help other startups secure suitable funding. They do this by providing a means for interested individuals to invest in a startup they love. They can do this with as little as $10.
2. Craydel
One of the most important landmarks for every young person is choosing a university. Since its inception in 2021, Kenya-based Craydel has made it its mission to make this process effortless. The founders are; Manish Sardana, John Nguru, and Shayne Aman Premji. They match a student’s budget, personality, and aptitude to give them the best University and program choices. How? Simply by leveraging what they term the most brilliant AI-backed search engine for higher education.
Float
Research shows that 25% of all startups fail in their first year because of poor cash flow and low working capital. This Ghanian fintech has made it its mission to boost the cash flow of SMBs (small and mid-sized businesses) in Africa. Its Founders are, Jesse Ghansah and Barima Effah. They claim to achieve this by providing flexible credit facilities, automated payment, and invoicing facilities. The platform also has functionalities that help manage expenses.
Norebase
Norebase is the second Nigerian startup on our list. Its primary goal is to help with business registration and inter-Africa trade. Businesses expanding across the region will quickly establish in any African country.
They declare they handle professional services that get you started, like securing competent lawyers and navigating the country’s legal infrastructure. They also take care of trademarks as well as email registration.
NFTfi
Its goes without saying that NFTs (Non-Fungible Tokens) are the newest rave on the cryptocurrency market. These non-replicable tokens can represent real-world assets, making them easy to buy and sell without fear of fraud.
NFTfi takes this a step further. It stands as the middleman for those who want to use their NFTs as collateral when accepting a loan. Stephen Young founded this company in 2017 in Cape Town, South Africa.
Like other intermediaries, NFTfi accepts a 5% commission on every successful transaction (one in which the borrower eventually pays the lender back). In contrast, the borrower is free to set the loan terms.
Lazerpay
A lot has changed since Bitcoin came into play in 2009. Since then, it has achieved rapid success. As a result, many businesses have started accepting virtual currency payments in exchange for their services.
However, this doesn’t work for everyone because of flawed systems. Even so, Lazerpay, a Nigerian cryptocurrency startup, intends to help businesses easily accept virtual currency as payment for their services.
Blockchain engineer, Njoku Emmanuel, is the founder of Lazerpay. He trusts this company will allow Africans to invest funds securely in crypto markets and enjoy cryptocurrency-backed loans.
Tendo
One of the biggest challenges for businesses is reaching the target market. The ghana-based e-commerce platform, Tendo takes care of this. It was launched in 2020 by Primerose Katena, Derrick Mungai, Felix Manford, and Evans Darbo Boateng.
Unlike other brokers, Tendo doesn’t retail the wholesale-priced goods listed on its platform. No. Independent retailers take care of that. These retailers add their profit to the price of the goods. They then get interested customers to buy them. Tendo then pays the wholesalers their money, gives the retailers their cut, and everyone goes home happy.
Telda
Former Uber engineer Youssef Sholqamy and Swvl co-founder Ahmed Sabbah are the brains behind Telda. This digital platform supports peer-to-peer payments. It definitely is amongst the startups to watch out for this year.
Targeted at Millennials and Gen Z, Telda is in Egypt. The platform allows people to send and receive money without charge while discerning their spending habits.
Edukoya
Honey Ogundeyi is the founder of the Nigerian education platform, Edukoya. It came into existence in 2021. Its sole purpose is to provide digital study content. It also provides services of online tutors for real-time teaching.
Although in its Beta phase with its exam preparation features, Students use Edukoya for WAEC, JAMB, and other school exams. In addition, it offers students step-by-step solutions to challenging problems.
Afya Rekod
With its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya, Afya Rekod is the brainchild of John Kamara. John unveiled Afya Rekod to the public in 2020 as a digital health data platform.
Blockchain modules and AI technology power it. Afya Rekod allows health facilities to store and access a patient’s health data in real-time. However, Afya Rekod is only accessible as a SaaS platform and USSD service. They are launching their iOS and Android apps soon.
Bypa-ss
Bypa-ss is the second healthcare platform on our list of 11 Startups To Watch Out For in 2022. The startup compiles a patient’s health data from different healthcare facilities. The goal of this is to provide a unified record.
This Cairo-based healthcare platform was birthed in 2019 by Andrew Saad. Its purpose is to allow professionals to exchange complete healthcare data. It also aims to provide patients with an avenue to control access to their health data.
Conclusion
There you have it. The 11 African startups to watch for in 2022. These are some of the startups that will do us proud of in 2022.
