Africa is a rising global competitor in the technology industry. It was already a leader in mobile to mobile payment systems with its m-Pesa system, but now startups are being launched all over the continent, even in rural areas with little to no electricity, as more people gain access to wireless internet and smartphones. There are now more than 90 tech hubs across Africa,according to the World Bank. South Africa still has the most, but Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, Tanzania, and Senegal aren’t far behind. People in the Western world are finally starting to take note, too. Data from CrunchBaseshowed that 2013 was the most active year for tech investments on the continent and in 2014, investments are already surging. Big whig companies like Microsoft, Google, and IBM are putting money into local startup accelerators and their own initiatives. Here are 10 African tech startups to keep your eye on in 2014 and beyond. They’re all making waves because of their emphasis on affordability, diversity, and accessibility. 1. Dropifi In 2013, Dropifi became the first African startup to be accepted into 500 Startups, a Silicon Valley seed accelerator and investment fund. Launched in 2011, Dropifi is a widget that offers an intelligent contact form. It helps businesses analyze, visualize, and respond to incoming messages, with a way to use social media to see the demographics of site visitors and message senders, as well as a formula to analyze the emotions in the messages. Dropifi won first place in the Global Start-Up Open Competition in 2012. It has about 6,000 clients in more than 30 countries and plans to expand even more. 9jastartupseries/10-african-tech-startups-that-are-driving-valuable-innovations/
Posted on: Mon, 22 Dec 2014 10:53:15 +0000
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