Over the last decade, there has been the emergence of a new wave of entrepreneurs and investors committed to being catalysts of economical and societal progress across Africa.

The second edition of Deep Dive Africa (DDA II) is geared towards startups raising pre-seed and seed round funding. Between 2021 and 2022, DDA II is being delivered across four key markets; Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana and Rwanda. In collaboration with the implementing country partners, local GIZ representatives and the investor committee, 40 top startups have been selected to partake in the program. Currently, 60% of the overall cohort across the four locations are women-led.

Selected startups have started coaching and are in the process of completing their self-drafted investor memos and due diligence checklists for assessment. An inclusive Dealbook that will provide investors with an in-depth glance into the program’s startups, their business models, industries, market traction, vision and ask is a significant part of DDA and will serve as the introductory layer steering potential investor interest towards startups.

Meet some of the outstanding African entrepreneurs addressing challenges in sectors ranging from finance to healthcare to education and keep an eye out for the program’s Dealbook, where the full cohort will be featured.

Electricity and gas supply

• About 80 million Nigerians face daily blackouts. Uwana Energy provides affordable solar energy products to low-income Nigerian microentrepreneurs. How? By partnering with financial institutions so they can avoid the high upfront costs of solar power, save money and improve their lives.
• Globally, 3 billion people use polluting biomass fuels for cooking every day. In addition, 4 million people die annually from inefficient cooking practices, such as the use of wood and charcoal stoves, of which about 64,000 are Nigerians. Hinata Energy aims to provide affordable energy for a healthier cooking environment by offering biofuel-powered cookstoves.

Financial activities

• Half of the adult population in sub-Saharan Africa still lacks access to financial services. The fintech company Kobopay provides a wide range of services using a community-based approach. It works with local businesses in their communities to offer their services offline, thus reaching the last mile. Its aim is to offer financial services to the underserved at low cost and within walking distance of their homes.
• In Nigeria, only 27% of women have a bank account, one of the lowest rates in the world. A female-focused fintech, Shecluded aims to empower finance for all women by providing them with access to loans, learning opportunities and support to scale their businesses.

Technology services

• African aesthetics have inspired the global fashion industry and cultural icons worldwide. While major brands have widely embraced the black aesthetic, black designers remain voiceless in the retail market and lack access to sales channels and global consumers. Adjoaa is a curated multi-brand online marketplace that offers global consumers a selection of sustainable and accessible Black-Owned premium fashion and lifestyle products.
• Onesha Technologies provides a scalable marketplace for small and medium-sized businesses to affordably hire skilled African freelancers and creatives to develop digital services. It is supported by a secure and trusted escrow infrastructure to handle payments anywhere in Africa.

Agriculture, Forestry, and Fishing

• Artisanal fishing is under threat by mass-produced imports and illegal, uncontrolled trawler fishing. NshoNam is a fresh seafood marketing technology solution designed with West African artisanal fishing communities by aggregating and coordinating catches, digitally managing low-cost cold chains, and leveraging technology to expand market access.

• Fresh, quality, affordable products are often in short supply in both urban cities and rural towns. Taimba is a mobile platform that connects farmers with consumers. It offers last-mile cold chain distribution from rural farms to markets and, through its platform, fresh products can be sourced directly from smallholder farmers, cutting out the middlemen and directly benefiting farmers.

Human health and social work activities

• Can you picture an on-demand pharmacy? Pharmarun eliminates the barriers of traditional pharmacies with an easy to use platform that enables users to find and deliver medication directly to their doorsteps.
• The underdeveloped healthcare systems and infrastructure in Africa leads to over 2 million preventable deaths annually. Claron Health International is a digital health company providing integrated, personalized and affordable medical services with a focus on occupational, digital, and accessible healthcare for all.

Transportation and storage

• WeGoo is a delivery startup that enables micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) and e-commerce platforms to distribute their products quickly, easily and affordably across Ghana. Its mobile app allows over 500 MSMEs to deliver their products to their customers on-demand or on a scheduled basis.
• Loadmoran is an end-to-end tech logistics service provider designed to tackle a logistics problem in Africa by bringing together key logistics processes, i.e. freight, storage and fulfilment, all under one tech platform. Efficient, data-driven delivery is renewable delivery. Its goal is to make logistics in Africa fast, reliable and efficient by bringing the most advanced technology to key logistics processes.

Information, media and communication

• Dobiison is accelerating the adoption and commercialization of virtual reality in Ghana. Increasing competition, lack of trust and limited access to local providers show the need for World-class, custom, interactive virtual reality solutions and services to promote and manage the most valuable assets on the go. Dobiison also transforms consumer access to experiences and physical spaces.

Education and learning

• In Africa, there are 250 million children with no access to books in English or their indigenous languages and 48 million African youth (ages 15-24) are illiterate. AkooBooks is Ghana’s first publisher and digital distributor of African audiobooks, offering the most compelling and diverse collection of Black/African audiobooks. A mobile app/Web-based platform available in multiple African languages to illiterate & educated Africans and a global African diaspora.

Accommodation and food service activities

• A solution for issues like high service fees on booking platforms, over-reliance on travel agents and middlemen is Tripitaca. A platform that allows hosts/hotels to see travellers that are coming to their area and approach them with offers, eliminating the need for middlemen & travel agents to get bookings.

We invite you to participate in the online events “Investor Fireside Series”, which will take place from February 8 to 10. A platform where country-specific renowned investors with sizeable portfolios and experience in the respective markets will share their first-hand experience in navigating the market and respond to questions that can improve how the startups prepare for investor meetings.

Stay tuned to find out more about the final investment event, which will be held be held from March 9 to 11.