Nigeria’s Rubi Health & Ghana’s Developers in Vogue have been selected into Vodafone Institute’s F-LANE accelerator beating 280 start-ups from 62 countries that applied.
The two from Africa are among the five most innovative startups selected to participate in this year’s F-LANE accelerator which selected startups by and for women.
Others include startups and social ventures from India, the UK and Germany. The five will be part of a seven-week support program in Berlin, which includes mentorship, training, networking and financial start-up assistance. The majority of the start-ups in the past F-LANE rounds had received investments following the programme – in some cases even up to 4.5 million euros.
The accelerator programme will start on 4 October with a seven-week support programme in Berlin. The highlight will be the Demo Day of the five finalists on 21 November 2019 in front of investors and decision-makers from business, media and politics.
“Prejudices against women in the tech sector are still persistent, and the figures about their disadvantage are alarming. Programmes like F-LANE are needed to put this issue on the agenda and show that there is a variety of outstanding business models and diverse inspiring start-up teams,” said Alice Deißner, Director of the Vodafone Institute for Society and Communication.
F-LANE Start-ups 2019 include:
Ghana’s Developers in Vogue aims to close the gender gap in the tech industry in Africa via an AI-based platform. The organization offers training in usually male-dominated technical areas, such as software engineering or programming then matches its participants to potential employers. More than half of the graduates have already accepted job offers from partners such as Microsoft or Vodafone. In addition, Developers in Vogue sees itself primarily as a community of technology-oriented African women who work together to create a better future for all.
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The mothers book therapy hours at affordable prices via video chat in rooms provided by the hospitals. In this way, therapists can be connected from anywhere and the shortage of medical personnel can be overcome on site. In addition, Rubi Health organizes regular “health camps” where thousands of women can have their mental health examined for the first time.
Other include the following;
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