The 40 startups confirmed so far as participants in the W22 batch of the famed Silicon Valley-based Y Combinator accelerator include Ethiopia’s beU Delivery,andNigeria’s Identitypass, Between now and March, the W22 cohort of the Y Combinator program, which helped launch firms like Airbnb, Coinbase, and Dropbox, among others, will take place.
Participants receive seed funding of US$125,000 each, as well as additional investment opportunities at a demo day. With 40 startups confirmed so far for W22, two African companies have already been identified.
The S21 edition of the accelerator had 15 African participants, the most ever, and with 40 companies confirmed so far for W22, two African companies have already been named. We expect more information to be released in the coming months, both before and after demo day.
So far, beU Delivery, an Ethiopian on-demand food delivery service, and Identitypass, a Nigerian digital compliance and security company, have been recognized. The latter raised $360,000 in pre-seed funding in November to help it attract additional clients, enhance its product, and expand its team.
Y Combinator, possibly the most well-known accelerator in the world, is increasingly choosing African tech startups to participate in its program. Continental royalty such as Flutterwave, Paystack, and Kobo360 are among its alumni (not to mention Cowrywise, MarketForce, Kudi, WaystoCap, WorkPay, Healthlane, Trella, 54gene, CredPal, NALA and Breadfast).
The accelerator has an ambiguous place in the continent’s startup ecosystem, but entrepreneurs laud it for having a good impact on their firms.