Southern Africa Innovation Support Programme (SAIS) and Seedstars have awarded five startups from this year’s startup batch of the Investment Readiness Programme a $5,000 funding grant.
The Investment Readiness Programme (IRP) 2019-2020 selected 15 startups with SDG-focused tech solutions and provided the participating entrepreneurs with a startup education programme that brought their solutions closer to being investment-ready.
With the objective of increasing funding received by early-stage startups in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, SAIS 2 and Seedstars held the Investment Readiness Programme aimed to improve the quality of entrepreneurs and save both founders and investors’ time in the fundraising process. This is done through educational programmes, ecosystem strengthening and networking activities, with a focus on the following 10 countries on Seedstars programme: Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania, Zambia, Angola, Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Mauritius, and Mozambique.
The IRP was then followed by the Investor Roadshow where they provided the startups with the opportunity to present their companies and meet with investors that were interested in learning more about their solution. In the end, five startups were selected to receive the $5K USD grant sponsored by SAIS 2.
The five startup recipients are the following:
- Mangwee – Mangwee is a Zambian based mobile money transfer and remittance platform that enables learning institutions to process payments.
- SUMET – Digitalize FMCG distribution by connecting suppliers and informal retailers saving their money, effort, and time through data-driven AI
- UBI – A platform that connects people to their city to help them find the best places in town to eat, drink, shop, or visit.
- Luma Law – Affordable and accessible access to practical, relevant and user-friendly legal information via chat platforms such as Facebook messenger.
- Astech-Congo – Allows users to stay connected to their school or university, wherever they are and in real-time via smartphone.
