By the editorial staff
IFC has a long-standing commitment to startups, including the Africa Tech Awards, the latest edition of which was held in conjunction with Vivatech 2023 in Paris.
The idea of mobilizing other commercial investors to be excited about investing in African tech companies, said William Sonnerborn is the Global Director of Disruptive Technology and Creative Industries and Funds at IFC. The idea is to showcase really good African startups to the world in a room where it’s filled with investors, venture capital investors from around the world looking for innovative ideas and startups. We use the publicity around the awards to elevate the winners on a global stage. And we continue to grow and it is our second year now, which we grew. We grew the nominations for the awards by 30 % from first edition to second edition.The inaugural edition of the Awards, which launched last year, attracted more than 300 applicants.
“ What really counts in the selection of these startups, is really how disruptive the idea is and the business model that promise it has both in terms of financial returns as an investor looking for and development impact”
Focused on three categories, fintech, climate tech, and healthtech, the competition received more than 380 entries, a 30% increase on the number of entrepreneurs who applied in 2022. “What’s amazing is the quality of entrance is extraordinary. We have nine finalists we brought here from Africa to Paris. Three of them were chosen on June 15 as the winners of the 2023 Africa Tech Awards, one startup per category. But for three days, the nine finalists were able to meet with investors at VivaTech. What really counts in the selection of these startups, is really how disruptive the idea is and the business model that promise it has both in terms of financial returns as an investor looking for and development impact. That’s one of the reasons we focus on fintech, climate tech and health tech. agriculture, develop circular economy and think about new ways of energy production.”
The 2023 winners were unveiled on 15 June at a ceremony held in conjunction with VivaTech.
● Winner in the « Climate Tech » category: Kubik a Kenyan startup that transforms hard-to-recycle plastic waste into low-cost, sustainable building materials.
● Winner in the « Health Tech » category: Waspito based in Douala, Cameroon, which offers instant video consultations with doctors, mobile laboratories and pharmacy services, all linked by a social health network.
● Winner in the « FinTech » category: Curacel a Nigerian insurance technology company that provides easy-to-use technology solutions to help insurers distribute their products, automate claims, processes and drive insurance inclusion across Africa. Its aim is to build the foundations that will make insurance more affordable and available to the next billion people in emerging markets.
Last year, the three winning startups were able to leverage the award to grow their business and multiply their impact:
● Electronic waste recycling company WEEE Centre signed new business agreements and expanded its operations to 15 African countries;
● Cairo-based pharmaceutical delivery platform Chefaa has expanded into Egypt and launched in Saudi Arabia;
● South African insurance startup Click2Sure has grown by more than 40% since winning the award last year.
