Out of the 12 companies selected for the Techstars New York (Techstars NYC) Class of Spring 2022, three are African tech companies. In what KJ Singh, Managing Director of the Techstars NYC described as an “extremely difficult” process.
“This year we received applications from over 48 countries and ultimately selected a group of global founders that hail from Nigeria, Israel, France, Cameroon, Canada and cities in the US including Dallas, New York, Washington D.C., Las Vegas, and Princeton.” Singh said. Adding that “We had a very competitive application pool and selecting these 12 companies was extremely difficult.”
The heightened interest of global investors including accelerators and venture capital firms in the African tech ecosystem gives validation to the efforts of tech entrepreneurs on the continent. In the most recent class of the Techstars Toronto, 8 out of the 12 startups that pitched were African companies.
Related Article: What you need to know about startup accelerators.
African tech startups at the Techstars New York Class of Spring 2022:
Voyance: Voyance is a no code data infrastructure platform that makes data teams more productive by automating complex data processes such as data engineering, lake houses/data warehouse and analytics.
Launched in 2019 by Ebot Tabi, Voyance recently raised $500,000 in an oversubscribed pre-seed round to bolster its efforts in helping companies to extract value from their data and to help B2B businesses become data–driven.
Torche: Founded by Sisan Dorsu and Gbenga Oni, Torche is a Nigerian-based fintech that enables customers in Africa to make payments and other transactions with their fingerprint through biometric POS terminals, leading to increased payment success rates versus incumbent technology.
Vesti: Vesti is a NeoBank that provides financial services, information and community for the 272 million international migrants who do not have access to banking. In December 2021, the Vesti app crossed the $1 million mark in processed transactions, with 26,000 active users.
Founded in 2020 by two brothers—Olusola Amusan and Abimbola Amusan, Vesti has grown by 33% Month- on -Month to 32,000 active users organically. With operations in Dallas, Texas, and in Lagos, Nigeria, the migrant Neo Banking application plans to expand its operations to Ghana and Rwanda by Q2 of 2022 to further solidify its market positioning for intending migrants transiting to North America (the US and Canada) and Europe for work and education opportunities.
Recently, the neobank raised $500,000 as part of a pre-seed funding round to improve its product platform.
About Techstars accelerator
Founded in 2006, Techstars is an American seed accelerator that began with three simple ideas— enabling entrepreneurs to create a better future for everyone, collaborating, driving innovation to empower great ideas that can come from anywhere. Techstars has invested in more than 2,900 companies with a combined market cap of more than $189 billion.
Also Read: 15 global startup accelerators accepting Nigerian startups
With hubs across the United States, Techstar launched its New York hub in 2011. “Home to a thriving tech ecosystem, Techstars NYC supports a diverse group of founders with world-class resources that help them grow and scale,” the Accelerator stated on its website.
Techstars Lagos might be underway
A job listing on Greenhouse suggests that Techstars intends to set up a hub in Lagos. “We are seeking a Managing Director (MD) who can take the helm and lead our Accelerator and investment strategy for Techstars in Lagos, Nigeria…You will report directly to the General Manager joining a team that spans the globe. Work is based in Lagos, Nigeria.” according to the job description.
This expansion will create room for more African startups to access funding and mentorship to scale their products across the globe.
