60 African Startups Receive $4 million Funding From Google 

The Google for Firms initiative, which was started in April 2012, has helped over 4,600 startups obtain more than $290 million in capital while supporting over 4,600 employees.

60 African businesses have been chosen for Google for Startups Black Founders Fund’s second cohort, the company announced earlier today at the Transcorp Hilton Hotel in Abuja.

Each of the chosen businesses will be given assistance through a 6-month training program that includes specialized seminars, community-building activities, and access to a network of mentors to help them overcome issues that are particular to them. Along with up to $200,000 in Google Cloud credit, the 60 firms will also receive equity-free capital ranging from $50,000 to $100,000.

“We’re proud that we were able to reach gender parity in this cohort,” Folarin Aiyegbusi, Head of Startup Ecosystem, Africa said. The grantees, made up of 50% women-led businesses, hail from Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda. 

The Google for Firms initiative, which was started in April 2012, has helped over 4,600 startups obtain more than $290 million in capital while supporting over 4,600 employees.

“We looked at three key factors when selecting startups: Product-market fit, startup-program fit, and founder potential,” Aiyegbusi said. “The companies we’ve selected are those that have found product-market fit, the program must be beneficial to them beyond just the money and the founders must be people that have the potential to create enormous value.”

One of the Black Founders Fund beneficiaries, Tola Onayemi, CEO of Norebase, expressed his excitement at having access to a network of other ambitious founders and resources.

“We got exposed to a wider range of Google tools and were given Google advert credit; these resources helped us scale our business,” Kemi Olawoye, CEO Babymigo said. Babymigo was a part of the first cohort of the Black Founders Fund in 2021.

Agritech, fintech, healthcare, e-commerce, logistics, education, hospitality, and smart cities are just a few of the many industries from which the fund, which is sector-neutral, chose entrepreneurs.

Nigeria, with twenty-three grantees, Kenya, with twelve, Rwanda, with six, South Africa, with five, and Uganda, with four, are the top five nations with the most companies chosen for the program. Ethiopia has two chosen grants, while Cameroon and Ghana each got three recipients. Senegal and Botswana each have one chosen startup.

The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund initiative will introduce grantees in Africa to Google’s tools, relationships, and best practices in order to level the playing field as they develop better goods and services that contribute to the continent’s economy.