African Start-ups have gained international recognition by the World Economic Forum, as part of the top 100 most promising tech companies worldwide. These pioneers of the tech industry in Africa are tackling issues like financial inclusion, climate change, and healthcare through cutting-edge technologies.
This year’s list of tech pioneers includes companies that have demonstrated a broad range of innovations. This includes start-ups from 31 economies, with a third led by a woman chief executive. Africa has an impressive representation of 7 companies. Farmerline, from Ghana, connects farmers, agribusinesses and governments to form an end-to-end, holistic solution to the sector’s challenges. South African led Omniscient RF, creates a trust-by-design environment for businesses to collaborate on their first party data securely, quickly and easily while remaining compliant with consumer data privacy regulations. Kenyan startup, unCulture, also makes the list as an impressive developer of the AgroSolar Irrigation Kit, an entirely solar-powered drip irrigation system, that combines solar water pumping technology with high-efficiency drip irrigation.
Verena Kuhn, Head of Innovator Communities, World Economic Forum comments on the outstanding innovation brought about by these startups, “The 2023 cohort of Technology Pioneers is already bringing great changes to industries around the world,” Verena adds, “Selectees are at the forefront of innovation and disruptions needed to help us solve the world’s most pressing issues. We look forward to their contribution to the Forum’s content work that brings together the public and private sector to tackle these global issues.”
International startup’s leading in innovation and tackling world’s most pressing issues include:
Sustainability
ClimateAI, based in the US, applies artificial intelligence to climate risk modelling and its platform provides short- and long-term insights into weather and climate impact.
Based in Switzerland, Transmutex aims to develop a non-self-sustaining chain reaction nuclear energy system able to produce carbon-free energy with the highest safety profile. Meanwhile, Huue, in the US, is using biotechnology to create sustainable dyes to reduce the use of chemicals in fashion supply chains.
Healthcare
M20 Genomics, based in China, is developing single-cell sequencing technology to effectively diagnose diseases and provide relevant treatment. Dot, in the Republic of Korea, is a pioneer in smart technology for the vision-impaired and the deaf-blind, helping them to lead more independent lives.
Advanced Manufacturing
Boston Materials, based in the US, develops advanced materials that are lightweight, corrosion-resistant and have energy-diffusion capabilities. Monolith, based in the UK, empowers engineering domain experts in various industries to reduce expensive, time-intensive testing and cut product development time.
Following their selection as Technology Pioneers, this year’s companies will join a group of alumni that include many household names, like Airbnb, Google, Kickstarter, Mozilla, Spotify, TransferWise, Twitter and Wikimedia. The 2023 cohort will be invited to join Forum events and discussions throughout the year, bringing together leading stakeholders from the public and private sector.
//Staff Writer