MAN Impact Accelerator has accepted Nigeria’s drone startup Arome & Uganda’s electric boda Zem.bo into its 2019 and third cohort
Arome and Zembo are among the eight of the most promising and innovative social business startups from Europe, Brazil and Africa selected for the MAN Impact Accelerator’s third cohort.
The 8 beat around 300 companies from over 40 counties that submitted their applications to be part of the accelerator programme.
Zem.bo provides affordable electric motorcycles for motorcycle taxi drivers in Africa. They assemble and lease solar-powered motorcycles on a pay-as-you-go model with the possibility of owning the asset after two years.
Nigeria’s Arone, on the other hand, is building Africa’s biggest aerial logistics infrastructure for health care. By using smart drones, they can provide quick, affordable and reliable delivery of blood and medical supplies to the most remote villages in under 15 min. Zipline has been doing this for a while now in Rwanda and Tanzania and recently expanded to cover Nigeria and Ghana.
By end of last year, Zipline had delivered over 5000 units of blood. Arone will quickly feel the heat.
Other startups include
Brazil
Suma, a fair and direct trading platform connecting smallholder farmers with regular food buyers. This enables them to cut out several middlemen and to redistribute this value to both the consumer and the producer.
Eu Vo, a transportation platform that connects trained drivers with elderly people with reduced mobility. They offer door to door transportation service with the option of hiring accompanying service as well that can accompany each customer in a unique and personalized way.
Nina, an online platform to track, standardize and centralize harassment cases in urban mobility. This allows public transport users to report instantly harassment they suffer or witness. Every time a complaint is issued, NINA facilitates the investigation of cases with the police and offers psychosocial support to the victims.
Europe
Koiki, an inclusive and green last-mile delivery network in Spain that employs people from vulnerable populations to deliver and pick-up parcels in their neighbourhoods by electric vehicle, walking or cycling.
Addressya which leverages new technologies to make physical addresses available to everyone. They developed a simple way for everyone to register a complete, precise and easy-to-use address which they can share with full control over their own data.
XYT, a new generation vehicle manufacturer that has developed a light, modular, durable and electric vehicle platform to provide tailor-made last mile delivery solution which takes an innovative approach to sustainable urban logistics.
According to Arunima Singh, Accelerator program lead from Yunus Social Business, the founders who have been chosen to be a part of the MAN Impact Accelerator embody that enormous opportunity to harness the power of business to impact people’s lives in many different geographies.
“At Yunus Social Business, we believe in the power of business to end poverty. A social business is a for-profit company with a social mission at its core 100% dedicated to solving human problems,” Singh said.
“Right now, we are immersed in how we can create jobs for vulnerable groups in Spain. With the MAN Impact Accelerator, we look forward to learning more about knowing more about the difficulties and challenges that can be found in other regions.” Nerea Ortiz García from Koiki
The results from previous programs were astonishing – the social businesses on average doubled their revenues and 4x’ed their impact over the course of the program. We look forward to working with these companies from different backgrounds, countries and impact sectors.
