Latitude59 Kenya’s Pitch Competition has selected 10 African startups from a record 382 applications from 37 countries to pitch at Latitude59 2025 in Tallinn, Estonia, where they’ll stand a chance to win a prize pool of one million euros.
Latitude59’s Pitch Competition in Kenya has nearly doubled, with a strong representation from African nations like Kenya, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria, and South Africa. Startups from UAE, India, and Azerbaijan also applied.
According to Dolores Daniel, the project manager for the Latitude59 Kenya Edition, “Latitude59 Kenya Edition has showcased a surprising shift in startup focus. While fintech once dominated the landscape, this year’s pitch competition applications reveal an inspiring wave of innovation in agriculture and sustainability. It’s clear that founders are increasingly prioritising impact-driven solutions to tackle food security, climate resilience, and sustainable resource management—reshaping Kenya’s entrepreneurial narrative.”
The competition’s top ten startups will have the opportunity to pitch live on the main stage at Latitude59 in Nairobi on 28 November. They will also receive personalised pitch training from Latitude59 Pitch Coach Gleb Maltsev.
Founding Member of Nairobi Business Angels Network Nick Vilelle noted that it’s great to see such a strong batch of founders taking part in Latitude59’s event. “We see more and more founders building for East Africa, but with plans for global expansion, and I think that is an exciting sign of things to come,” he said.
One African startup will receive a fast-track invitation to Latitude59 2025 in Tallinn, Estonia, where it will participate in the pre-finals. For two years in a row, the prize pool for the Latitude59 Pitch Competition in Estonia has been one million euros. Also, Latitude59 will cover the cost of the roundtrip to Estonia.
“Compared to last year, the number of applications has nearly doubled. As Latitude59 gains a stronger reputation, we’re also challenging ourselves to provide more value to startups who join our Pitch Competition—from in-person and online training to collaboration with relevant partners to help entrepreneurs grow regionally and globally,” said Triin Ilves, Head of Startup Relations at Latitude59.
TOP10 teams in alphabetical order are:
🇳🇬AcemyX: AcemyX is an LMS helping students prepare for exams with personalized learning tools and study materials.
🇹🇿Afya Mama: Afya Mama is providing answers to questions pertaining maternal care and reproductive health to women via SMS and web app.
🇰🇪 Eco Nasi: Eco Nasi Limited transforms pineapple pulp waste into high-quality vegan leather that is 5 times more durable than hide leather.
🇰🇪 Grekkon Limited: Grekkon is scaling up moisture sensors for smallholder farmers to remove water wastage or insufficient water in irrigation.
🇰🇪 NoMa: NoMa is a tech platform that digitizes school transportation.
🇺🇸 Paycloud Africa: Paycloud is building a Neobank to help MSMEs in Africa to pay, get paid, and access credit through payment aggregation.
🇰🇪 Roadrims: Roadrims provides reliable, efficient, and cost-effective logistics that meets diverse supply chain needs.
🇰🇪 Twiva: Twiva is a Social Commerce platform that helps brands gain access to markets by marketing & selling through influencers.
🇰🇪 VunaPay: VunaPay provides instant payments to farmers as they deliver their produce, saving them from delayed payments.
🇰🇪 Zerobionic: Zerobionic is developing a human-like robotic arm to help students with hearing impairments in Kenyan high schools.