Qualcomm Technologies, Inc. today selected 10 startups to participate in the inaugural Qualcomm Make in Africa startup mentorship program. This initiative forms part of the Qualcomm Africa Innovation Platform, which the company announced in December 2022.
These startups are developing innovative products in clean energy, agricultural technology, computing for education, geospatial predictive analysis, medical technologies, and innovations utilizing electric vehicles. Several startups also feature women in prominent leadership roles.
Startups from Kenya, Uganda, Nigeria, Ghana, and Rwanda emerged from a pool of over 550 applicants spanning 34 African countries. A global jury carefully selected them based on various qualifications, including technical capabilities, business factors, and their potential for innovation and intellectual property generation. Qualcomm Make In Africa startups will receive equity-free mentorship in business planning, engineering, intellectual property protection, and the application of advanced technologies such as connectivity, sensing, AI/ML, and other processing solutions for innovative end-to-end systems. This program, the first of its kind in Africa, aims to drive the continued growth of the continent’s technology startup ecosystem.
The organizers sort the shortlisted companies and their technology solutions in alphabetical order.
Ecorich Solutions – patented organic composting in Kenya
Fixbot – Vehicle diagnostics and inspection via OBD dongle in Nigeria
Karaa – e-Bike tracking, charging, retrofit, and rentals in Uganda
Maotronics Systems Limited – IOT-enabled precision agriculture in Nigeria
Microfuse – Affordable plugin computers for the education sector in Uganda
Neural Labs Africa Ltd – Deep learning and computer vision for healthcare diagnosis in Kenya and Senegal
OneTouch Diagnostics – Diabetes patch and monitoring system in Nigeria
QuadLoop – Leveraging e-waste for solar e-Lanterns and battery storage in Nigeria.
SLS Energy – Recycled lead-cell battery storage banks in Rwanda
SolarTaxi – Electric vehicle [EV] taxi and fleet management in Ghana
Make in Africa Initiative Nurturing 10 Startups
Announced in December 2022, Qualcomm Make in Africa will provide 1:1 mentorship for the shortlisted companies with Qualcomm leaders on a regular cadence to guide startups to product realization. As well as provide masterclasses on product management, pitch clinic, IPR, and hardware architecture. The program will culminate in a finale demo day in December 2023. It will connect startups with various industry leaders, venture capitalists, investors, and other accelerators.
“I’d like to applaud and congratulate these 10 startups for their innovative solutions.” Said Sudeepto Roy, Vice President, Engineering, Qualcomm Incorporated. “I am beyond excited to hear about their respective problem domains and innovative solutions. They have applied their talents and ingenuity to address Africa’s present-day needs in areas of reliable access to clean energy, precision agriculture to conserve water and other resources, adaptations of electric transportation for many last-mile needs, using AI and other innovations for accelerating disease pathology and treatment, and addressing energy efficient, affordable computing for the education market.”
“As part of our new Africa Innovation Platform, the Qualcomm Make in Africa mentorship program is one of many initiatives we are working on in close collaboration with government and industry stakeholders in Africa. It will help position African entrepreneurs and researchers to service markets throughout the continent and realize their global ambitions. We believe that startups based in Africa are best placed to identify uniquely African problems that can be solved through end-to-end systems solutions and new business models,” said Elizabeth Migwalla, Vice President and Head of Government Affairs [Middle East and Africa], Qualcomm International, Inc. “We congratulate the shortlisted companies and look forward to a fruitful collaboration for innovation in the coming months.”
