10 Ugandan post-revenue startups are going to benefit from the third edition of an Acceleration Programme that will be run by GrowthAfrica, a company that focuses on growing successful enterprises in Africa through business acceleration, strategic advice and access to investments.
The nominated venutes are spread across different industries, namely nutrition, photography, taxi hailing, micro-finance, health, transportation and agriculture.
During acceleration programs, ventures are exposed to seed investment, connections, mentorship, educational components, and culminate in a public pitch event or demo day to accelerate growth.
GrowthAfrica say they have accelerated over 200 companies since 2009, and their “programme is geared towards ensuring that the entrepreneurs are fully equipped with hands on and productive solutions to scaling their ventures.”
According to their website, several factors were look into to pick the 10 startups, and these were: the venture’s potential to scale, degree of innovation, the strength and ambition of the founders and their teams, and their potential to solve key challenges through innovative products or services.
Officials says the programme will see the entrepreneurs learn how to craft strategies and plans that can aid them in the execution of these strategies and plans.
“Our tools further assist in capturing the learning of this process and iterate, slowly refining strategies and the overall business model into perfection,” says the website.
During this program, the innovators will also tap from the knowledge of experienced speakers, sages and mentors who understand the dynamics of running and growing a business and who can provide valuable insights to the entrepreneurs, according to the website.
Below are some of the ventures in the programme.
KweNu: This venture seeks to tackle the problem of increase diet related diseases and an increase in fast food restaurants by providing healthy alternative so that Ugandans and make better food decisions.
Kwenu makes healthy and tasty juices, salads and smoothies from locally sourced, nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables. It started two years ago.
For more information about them, visit: www.kwenukampala.com
Kijani Baby: it is a cloth diaper business established to provide positive employment opportunities to empower women and provide a high quality, affordable, environmentally friendly alternative to disposable diapers in the local Ugandan market.
Kijani is a Swahili word that means “green” and reflects the company’s desire to introduce earth-friendly products to the local market.
For more, visit: Website: www.kijanibaby.com
Blush Media: Blush Media is a Ugandan based Media Company engaged in the business of photography, design and videography. The venture undertakes to provide affordable, quality and professional services to their clientele and that is a creed that defines who they are and what they stand for.
A photo taken by Blush Meida
Website: www.blushmedia.ug
Jumpstart Africa: Jumpstart Africa offers financial services to community groups with group guarantee for loans repayable in a short term for business and school fees.
The company provides a solution for bottom of the pyramid active poor women (women face higher constraints in accessing start-up and growth funds. In Uganda, women access 9 percent of the available credit)
Website: www.jumpstart.org
Spe Taxi: Spe Taxi provides airport transfer services in Uganda to individual travelers and corporate companies. Their mission is to create the most reliable airport transfer service in the East African region.
Their business model leverages on IT and strong partnerships with already existing taxi cab operators to deliver their value proposition to their target market.
Twitter: www.twitter.com/spe_ug and Facebook: www.facebook.com/SpeTaxi
Rabboni: Rabboni democratises access to transportation, agro-processing and distribution services in the East African region hence connecting agronomy, aggregation and route to market for maize grain and coffee. The company’s broader goal is to improve the “middle mile” agribusiness space by reducing inefficiencies in the value chain and increase farmer household incomes.
Website: www.rabboni.co.ug
Agrodynamics: Founded in 2009, Agrodynamics is an agriculture incentive company with innovative visions in agriculture development through modern agricultural technology approaches. Its target customers are the small-scale holder farmers who they use as their contracted-out growers and connect them to their off-taker companies like local breweries and export promotion companies.
Website: www.agrodynamics.biz
Krystal Ice: Krystal Ice makes healthy, nutritious, tasty ice products ranging from flakes, cubes, pops of different flavors from fresh fruit pulp. It’s delicious flavors include orange, watermelon, mango, pineapple, strawberry and mixed fruit among others. The variety of ice products are made in different sizes, and packaging options, are all natural, convenient and some ready to eat.
Website: www.krystaliceug.com
Superchillo Investments: Superchillo Investments is in the value addition sector, it empowers farmers by utilising industrial and agriculture wastes in mushroom growing. The venture also provides market by buying mushrooms, supplying to the end market and also process the dry mushrooms into different products like soups, porridge and beverage.
Facebook: www.facebook.com/Superchillo-Investments-limited
Krinic: Krinic provides solutions to health and environment related problems that are fundamentally a result of using the traditional cooking methods. Due to the high energy density fuels used, the improved cook stove provides a cost saving solution for the end users.
The business targets mainly rural households that are off the national grid and the corporate class and institutions in urban centres.
(Company descriptions adopted from GrowthAfrica)
