The PIVOT EAST is a program of targeted entrepreneurial workshops, pitching competition and conference for entrepreneurs leveraging technology to provide products or services to customers, and business advisory sessions. Nurturing the growing Startups and SMEs in East Africa, this year’s competition opened for both hardware and software startups.
Accordingly, the finalists are 25 exceptional startups from these sectors across the East Africa region. They will have the chance to compete to win market recognition and investor interest during the PIVOT East pitching competition and conference later this year.
These 25 finalist startups were unveiled today after an intense evaluation process, in which 5 from each category were selected from the 50 semifinalists announced two weeks ago.
The startups that have made it to the finals (click on the logo or name to visit the VC4A venture profile) are;
Finance
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TozzaPlus – TozzaPlus is a workforce management system with Time Tracking, HR & Payroll Management and Automated payouts/payments.
Kenya -
SokoHela – An online short term working capital provider for micro and small enterprises empowering agribusinesses/vendors in the urban agricultural value chain.
Kenya -
Engage & Prosper Africa Ltd. – Engage & Prosper Africa is a fin-tech company aimed at providing working capital to the most unserved sector of the economy using technology to deliver it fast, privately.
Kenya -
A-Trader – An AI-powered platform that enables users to access investment opportunities using any mobile device, and that also provides automated investment recommendations through a proprietary Robo-Advisor algorithm.
Tanzania -
MOBISHULE – Mobishule is a Value Added Service proposition to parents of partners’ schools that enables them to access small amounts of school fees credit using a mobile application.
Kenya
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Enterprise
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FarmIT – FarmIT is an agricultural mobile-based startup that uses crop mapping mobile technology to send real-time and reliable agronomic, crop protection and husbandry practices to small scale horticultural farmers with an aim of improving.
Kenya -
Kodisher Solutions – One stop solution for landlords and property managers for managing processes, transactions and data improving efficiency.
Kenya -
Enfinite Solutions Ltd. – Providing law firms and legal departments with a way to efficiently minimize costs, increase profits and improve decision making criteria through the products WakiliCMS and EliteSuite.
Kenya -
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Vipimo – Vipimo is a ‘sensor as a service’ subscription service currently serving several large customers in the B2B space (large farms, freight forwarders).
Tanzania
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Entertainment
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Cloud9xp – Cloud9xp is an online marketplace, booking service and distributor for leisure experiences offering a simple way to discover and book leisure experiences across Africa.
Kenya -
Klurdy Solutions – Klurdy is a design studio with an interactive online service for buying personalized African fashion.
Kenya -
UG Tickets – UG Tickets is a secure, online platform designed to facilitate the selling, marketing, and distribution of tickets for the convenience of event organizers/vendors and the consumers providing mobile money payment solutions.
Uganda -
Pingle – Pingle is a platform that is connecting users to activities that interest them within Nairobi’s malls. Users on the Pingle platform can discover, book, and pay for these activities on the app.
Kenya -
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Utilities
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Sheria Kiganjani – Sheria Kiganjani is the first online legal digital platform in Tanzania which enable users to access various legal services remotely from their devices i.e. Mobile Phones, Tablets, Computers etc.
Tanzania -
iCare – iCare is an online retail shop that allows individuals, organizations and corporations to buy basic requirements like food, school equipment and hygiene essentials for charity donations. iCare enables individuals to celebrate special moments in their lives by giving back as a charity donation.
Tanzania -
AT HAUSE Ltd. – Providing a solution that uses insect and rot resistant 3ply bags to store produce for longer periods and enable the producer to earn better. Pulling together disaggregated farms to a smart value chain linked to wholesalers to purchase farmer’s stock.
Uganda -
COINBOX Technologies – Coinbox allows its users to own Coinboxes in different and diverse listed brands and save for their due holidays by sending whatever amount they are comfortably able to their Coinbox until they reach the required amount.
Kenya -
Calm Wildness – Calm Wildness is a jewellery business that designs, makes and sells beaded jewellery for conservation aiming to include women near environmentally protected areas in its production and also expand to other aspects of fashion.
Kenya/Rwanda
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Social Impact
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Savanna Circuit Technologies Ltd. – Curbing milk post-harvest losses by providing portable solar powered chilling on transit systems mounted on motorbikes for dairy producers and cooperatives for efficiency, quality control and maximized profits.
Kenya -
Toolboksi – Toolboksi is a platform that solves & unemployment and poverty by increasing the access to job opportunities to the skilled workers (Blue-collar workers, handymen, repairmen) operating in the informal sector by connecting them with customers using inclusive technologies
Tanzania -
Eco Makaa – Eco Makaa is an e-commerce company that connects local fuel briquette producers to a client base. These fuel briquettes are smokeless eco-friendly alternatives to wood charcoal
Kenya -
Kilimofresh Foods Africa Ltd. – A B2B E-commerce produce distribution platform focused on connecting farmers with customers on a B2B model. Kilimo aggregates, trades and market all types of foods, grains, fresh fruits, and vegetables significantly reducing post-harvest losses by cold storage.
Tanzania -
AfyaKit – Providing an app for operational insights for healthcare managers, public health teams, and healthcare financiers to improve decision making and resource allocation in the healthcare space.
Kenya
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Out of the 25 startups that made it to the finalists, sixteen are from Kenya. Seven of the startups are from Tanzania and two from Uganda. For each category, a 6th best startup has been placed in a waiting list and may pitch at the conference if a finalist in the category drops out for any reason. Startups in the waiting list are: Denkim Insurance, FreshBox Rwanda Ltd., Tetch Astro Systems, Be Afrika Media Ltd. and WeDeliver.
Pitching conference
Finalists of the competition will receive training, coaching and mentorship in the weeks to come before the pitching conference later this year. These pre-conference activities assist the finalists to improve key elements of their business models and the positioning of their startups to the rich audience at the conference. Startups in the waiting list will also benefit from the training, coaching and mentoring given to the finalists.
Next wave of high potential innovations
PIVOT East competition aims to facilitate discovery and nurturing of the next wave of high potential innovations into sustainable businesses, ensuring that digital innovations are high in the agenda of regional, governments, corporates and development agencies for amplified development impact and to raise the quality of startups in the region.
About Pivot East
View a registration of the 2015 PIVOT East conference below.