Zay Ride, a ride-hailing company, and Garri Logistics, a digital freight brokerage company, are among the 60 start-ups selected for the Startups Black Founders Fund for Africa. Zay Ride and Garri Logistics, founders, will be part of the Startups Black Founders Fund (BFF). The founders and CEOs, Habtamu Tadesse of Zay Ride and Ezana RasWork and Aklilu Tadesse of Garri Logistic, will represent their companies in this opportunity. The start-ups will get a total of $ 4 million in funding and support to enable them to scale up their work. Aside from the $ 4 million, they will also receive assistance in the form of a 6-month training program. It will also include access to a network of mentors to help them tackle challenges unique to them. They will also participate in customized workshops, support networks, and community-building activities. Additionally, they will receive non-dilutive awards ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 and up to $200,000 in Google Cloud credit.
The Black Founders Fund is a Google initiative that provides grants to Black-founded start-ups in Africa. Since its outset in April 2012, the Google for Startups program has created over 4,600 jobs and raised over $290 million in funding. The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund program will introduce grantees in Africa to Google’s products, connections, and best practices, allowing the founders to level the playing field as they build better products and services that add value to the African economy. The Google fund initiated this opportunity to carve the continent’s limits and challenge capital funding. The program works to bridge the gap the continent faces.
The grant recipients are from Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa, and Uganda, and 50 percent of the recipients are businesses owned and operated by women. The top five nations with the most start-ups accepted into the program are Nigeria (23 grantees), Kenya (12 grantees), Rwanda (6 grantees), South Africa (5 grantees), and Uganda (4 grantees). Fintech, healthcare, e-commerce, logistics, agtech, education, hospitality, and smart cities are among their specializations. Cameroon and Ghana both have three grantees each. Botswana and Senegal each have one selected start-up, and Ethiopia has two selected grantees.
