The founders that have made it for the second edition of the Future is Female Mentorship Program have been announced. The program is run by C. Moore Media International Public Relations (CMM) for African female founders of tech companies.
Through a series of online sessions and mentorship, the program teaches women the fundamentals of PR and communications. To be eligible for the program, the entrepreneur’s business must be less than 2 years old and have not yet raised Series A funding.
In the inaugural year, it received 139 applications from 18 different African countries. The program ultimately selected 12 startups from Tanzania, Uganda, South Africa, Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya.
One of the mentees, Ugandan Shamim Kaliisa, Founder, Chil AI Lab, was invited to be a part of the inaugural Bloomberg New Economy Catalysts class of 2021, launched by former New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg to highlight the world’s brightest innovators at the leading edge of technology, solving problems in emerging economies.
This year the competition to get into the program was even fiercer. There was a 30% increase in the number of applications that came from 25 African countries. Ultimately 25 startups were invited to join the 2021 cohort from 12 countries.
List of the 25 founders in the Future Is Female 2021 Cohort
Cameroon
Selma Ndi Ekfvei (Founder of Data Girl Technologies): Data Girl Technologies is an Edu-tech startup empowering girls with digital skills and teaching them to monetize these skills, creating sustainable income for them.
Democratic Republic of Congo
Nadege Bolingo (Founder of Connecticut Institute for Social Entrepreneurship): The Connecticut Institute for Social Entrepreneurship is a startup that supports young leaders to solve the most world’s pressing problems while creating opportunities for their communities.
Egypt
Heba Eldessouky (Founder of As Good As New): As Good As New (AGAN) is an online platform for buying and selling pre-loved and outlet fashion items.
Eswatini
Setsabile Mkhabela (Founder of Boast-ID): Boast ID is a content hub, community, and e-commerce marketplace for emerging Sustainable and impactful brands in Africa.
Guinea
Marly Diallo (Founder of BRT Energy): BRT ENERGY leverages technology to support telecom tower operators, mobile network operators, energy companies, and organizations with battery recovery and energy storage.
Kenya
Nancy Passiany (Founder of Veesh Africa): Veesh Africa is an e-commerce platform creating opportunities for small and informal businesses to scale digitally and have access to markets outside of Kenya.
Cathy Chepkemboi (Founder of Tushop): Tushop is a social commerce company that aggregates communities’ demand for groceries to access wholesale prices and provides convenient delivery to end customers.
Nigeria
Joanne Osuchukwu (Founder of Hlink): HLink is an innovative, scalable, and integrated communication system for healthcare workers and facilities, which digitally provides up-to-date availability information of facilities and resources such as specialty physicians, test kits, and ventilators.
Ifedolapo Lawal (Founder of Afrinovate Technology LTD): Afrinovate helps businesses with rural distribution and payment collections from rural customers.
Adaobi Eneh (Founder of RoboRep): Roborep is a unified medical liaison and digital distribution platform for easy communication, networking, and exchange of goods and services in the life science industry.
Ibironke Yekinni (Founder of Testify Limited): Testify Limited is a Quality-As-a-Service startup providing services in training, delivering software testing services, and outsourcing experienced software testers to tech firms across Africa.
Wunmi Akinsola (Founder of Fashtracker): Fashtracker is a B2C fashion marketplace connecting trusted African brands to the customers that need them.
Olarenwaju Erogbogbo (Founder of Doing Good Work in Africa): The Doing Good Work in Africa (DOWA) initiative connects brilliant and innovative undergraduate and graduate-level students in the United States to organizations in Africa doing good, scalable and impactful work.
Kosi Ejieji (Founder of MyChassis): MyChassis is an on-demand mobile application built to help busy clients access cost-effective vehicle repair and maintenance from vetted mechanics without the hassle of dealing with them.
Tale Alimi (Founder of Owoafara): Owoafara is a startup providing financial services for underserved and under-banked micro and small businesses in the informal trade segment to improve their livelihood.
Rwanda
Eva Barasa (Founder of Valley Hub Ltd): Valley hub enables retail businesses with a digital supply chain to manage and build their business brand easily by leveraging technology.
Nisingizwe Joselyn (Founder of Smart Ikigega Project): Smart Ikigega is an Agri-tech startup that enabling farmers to have access to finances and harvest insurance.
Senegal
Fatou Gning (Founder of Amal Crowdfunding): Amal Crowdfunding is a crowdfunding platform for entrepreneurs seeking to raise start-up funds for their business.
South Africa
Thato Schermer (Founder of Zoie Health): Zoie is a digital women’s health & wellness platform that facilitates virtual consults, home consults & delivery of contraceptive and health test kits.
Siyanda Mpambani (Founder of Pink Torque Projects): Pink Torque through its tech solution; Trechi enables users to book auto-technician online for user-location-based repairs.
Joshna Nagar (Founder of APJ Technologies): APJ technologies initiate, build and launch business ideas into innovative, affordable and scalable software solutions for small medium and large enterprises
Gugu Kheswa (Founder of Hello Africa Travel): Hello Africa Travel is an online platform for customers to plan and book African travel.
Noxolo Fani (Founder of Platform Excel): Platform Excel is an Edutech startup using an enhanced, personalized approach and gamified online tools for career guidance for grade 8 to grade 12 students in South Africa.
Tanzania
Prisca Magori (Founder of Tenten Explore): Tenten Explore is an online travel marketplace, revolutionizing how travelers find and book trips.
Uganda
Rebecca Nanono (Founder of Shetechtive): Shetechtive enables girls and young women to have access to quality, inclusive and equitable education by providing study tablets and laptops through installment payment plans.
