12 Kenyan Startups to Benefit From Ksh480M Google Fund

MARTIN SIELESep 7, 2022988

Nigeria was the country with the most grantees under the program with 23. It was followed by Kenya with twelve. [Photo/ Concordia Journal]

12 Kenyan startups are among 60 companies selected by Google for the second cohort of its $4 million (Ksh480 million) Black Founders Fund for Africa program.

The startups will receive get non-dilutive awards of between $50,000 and $100,000, and up to $200,000 in Google Cloud credit. They will also get access to support including a 6 month training program, a network of mentors, tailored workshops and community building sessions.

The Kenyan startups set to benefit range from travel booking service BuuPass to healthtech startups Tibu and Zuri and buy-now-pay-later service Flexpay. Others are DohYangu, Keep IT Cool, Leja, Solutech, Synnefa, TopUp Mama and Zanifu.

Nigeria was the country with the most grantees under the program with 23. It was followed by Kenya with twelve. Rwanda, South Africa and Uganda had six, five and four grantees respectively.

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Cameroon and Ghana both have three selected startups while Ethiopia has two. Botswana and Senegal have one grantee each.

According to Google, the equity-free cash assistance to startups will enable the startups – many of which do not yet have steady revenue – to take care of immediate needs including paying salaries, funding inventory, and maintaining software licences.

Launched in 2012, the Black Founders Fund has so far awarded more than $16 million in Europe, Brazil, Africa and the U.S.