On June 18, 15 AI focused startups from Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal, Côte d’Ivoire, and Angola graduated from the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa programme-a three-month hybrid programme for growth-stage technology startups. Featuring ventures in the Fintech, Mobility, Healthtech, Agritech, and SaaS sectors, 60% of this year’s cohort are profitable startups yielding an average monthly revenue of $60,000 and $1.1M raised. This pivots a shift to high yielding AI solutions that address significant challenges across the continent.
Celebrated at the 2026 Close-out week & Demo Day in Nairobi, this year’s cohort marks a milestone that reflects the evolution of the tech ecosystem in Africa and Google’s long standing commitment to supporting founders who are building Africa’s tech infrastructure. From March to June 2026, Google has matched these founders with advanced Google technologies and global engineering experts to provide the technical infrastructure and mentorship needed to remove the friction of building at scale.
Speaking at the Demo day event, Alex Okosi, Managing Director, Africa, said, “We are proud to see how these startups are innovatively using AI to tackle real world challenges across the continent. Through our equity-free support and connection to Google services, we are providing founders with a blended model that offers the much needed support and mentorship that founders need to thrive.”
Folarin Aiyegbusi, Head of Startup Ecosystem, for Africa at Google emphasised the focus of this year’s Accelerator programme on empowering startups through the use of AI and Machine learning to address societal issues. This year’s cohort has featured startups that are using AI to drive social change in the Fintech, Mobility, Healthtech, Agritech, and SaaS sectors. Through their @@2programme, they provide tailored support to help founders use advanced technologies to scale impact in their communities while unlocking new opportunities for economic growth.
The graduating cohort comprises a diverse range of startups harnessing data and cloud technologies across fintech, mobility, healthtech, agritech, and SaaS. In East Africa, four Kenyan startups are using AI to solve invisible infrastructure gaps:
● Coamana: Innovating traditional food supply chains by using AI to interpret real-time data, making informal food markets visible and trackable for governments and businesses
● Duck: Overcoming retail stockouts by equipping consumer brands with real-time data intelligence and instant shop floor visibility
● ReportsAI: Providing an AI-first platform that converts unstructured raw data into institutional knowledge and compliance-ready reporting for impact organizations
● VunaPay: Resolving financial payment delays for smallholder farmers through fintech and data infrastructure engineered specifically for agricultural cooperatives
● Safiri (Tanzania) – Building the digital infrastructure powering reliable transportation of people and goods across Africa. Safiri Tanzania is a Tanzania-based travel and tourism platform dedicated to showcasing the country’s rich culture, destinations and experiences
Other startups from across Africa include:
1. Anda Africa (Angola) – AI-powered credit scoring for informal moto-taxi workers
2. Bani (Nigeria) – Cross-border payments infrastructure for African businesses
3. Emaisha Pay (Uganda) – Agro-trade payments and embedded financing
4. Loop (South Africa) – Mobility and payments digitization
5. Maad (Senegal) – AI-powered omnichannel platform for consumer brands
6. MasteryHive AI (Nigeria) – AI-native transaction reconciliation and AML monitoring
7. Meditect (Côte d’Ivoire) – Cloud software for African pharmacy digitization
8. Regxta (Nigeria) – Alternative data credit scoring for unbanked micro businesses
9. Termii (Nigeria) – AI-native communications infrastructure for financial messaging
10. Vambo AI (South Africa) – Multilingual AI infrastructure for African languages
Since its inception in 2018, the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa program has supported over 190 startups across 17 African countries. These alumni have collectively raised more than $400 million and created over 3,500 jobs, with Google providing $11,000,000 in equity-free funding and product credits to date. By empowering these founders with specialized resources, Google aims to enable Africa’s innovators to unlock new opportunities and drive meaningful change in their communities.
