SOSV, a US-based venture capital firm, has named three African startups among other companies to receive up to $150,000 in seed funding.
SSOV is responsible for providing multi-stage investment for the development and scaling of big ideas for positive change, investing in not less than 150 companies every year through category-leading startup development programs
The three African startups chosen for this funding include Egypt’s DXwand, an AI tool to automate and track insights from conversations in Arabic dialects and English; Nigeria’s PricePally, a platform responsible for group-buying agricultural products, and; Kenya’s MarketForce, a mobile-first SME digitization platform.
These startups are responsible for combating challenges from food security for Africa to offering solutions for the unbanked.
Couple with the US$150,000 seed funding, each startup will also get tech support for growth, a six-month program with a specialized salesforce, and a close-knit cross-border fraternity.
Speaking about the funding, the General Partner at SOSV, Bao Bean said:
“For over two decades, I’ve been looking to invest in Asian countries like, India, Southeast Asia and China, but Africa and Asia share lots of similarities, having easy access to the internet, low-cost smartphones, and ubiquitous digital payment, making these ecosystems suitable for breakthrough internet companies.
We’re delighted to bring our cross-border network from Asia to Africa to help founders here succeed, irrespective of their geographical location.”
So far, SOSV has supported eight African startups and plans to invest in over 10 companies on the continent while also creating an ecosystem of corporate partners.
SOSV has backed eight African startups so far and plans to invest in 10 more companies on the continent while also building an ecosystem of corporate partners. As of October 2021, SOSV recorded over $1.1 billion in AUM.
Here are the 3 African startups:
DXwand
This is a conversational AI application that helps businesses turn conversations into “Growth Insights”.
Using a “contextual and personalized” approach, it attends to conversations, converting conversations into Growth Insights Dashboards like leads, opportunities, demands, threats, complaints and so much more.
Business owners are presented with Growth Insights to keep them connected to their customers’ voices.
They are not required to tap into every conversation but help them make informative decisions to grow.
Marketforce
It helps consumer brands to track their field sales activities and grow their distribution channels in Africa.
Sales agents can record all their sales activities on the mobile app.
Orders, deliveries, visits, payments as well as feedback can all happen on the app, giving companies market visibility into the performance of their agents and products in the market.
With Marketforce, companies optimize sales, distribution and marketing activities and teams based on consumer purchasing habits and market trends.
Pricepally
The startup was founded in 2019 in order to bring innovation to a failing food distribution system in African cities.
Using an innovative way that benefits players in the food chain, Pricepally connects farmers, manufacturers, and wholesalers directly to the consumers.
The company is on a mission to build the next-generation food system for African cities, creating a platform where key players in the food value chain can plug in to make their deals with the end consumer.
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