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Lingawa is an emerging edtech company focused on making quality education accessible to a diverse audience. It operates an online tutoring platform that offers engaging lessons in native languages, catering to students of all ages, from children as young as five to adults. The platform features a variety of courses and connects learners with experienced tutors who employ creative and critical thinking techniques. By utilizing technology and innovative teaching methods, Lingawa aims to provide affordable and personalized educational solutions that enhance traditional schooling and promote language learning.

YARP Foods is a startup specializing in agri-processing, specifically producing cost-effective, high-quality all-purpose cassava flour for flour user industries. It operates by processing cassava into multipurpose flour, utilizing climate-smart systems to ensure reliable supplies, enhance farmers' incomes, and minimize losses, thereby providing consumers with quality products.

54 Collective, established in 2018, is a South Africa-based venture capital firm that invests in and supports African tech startups, primarily focusing on sectors such as fintech, health tech, agritech, logistics, and e-commerce. The company provides catalytic capital alongside value-add support and leverages its global network to help founders scale their businesses. 54 Collective, a business-focused investor, integrates impact considerations into all its operations, aiming to generate returns for investors while enabling entrepreneurs to grow their ventures.

The Government of Rwanda through the District and Sector gave my family a household cow. My dad was asked to establish a kraal and feeding garden to cultivate pasture. He did it. The Fresian cow given for free, gave us milk and dung, making us get milk for home use and surplus for sale. However, we were hit by the summertime and the pasture was depleted due to small plot cultivation we struggled to produce food crops and cow fodder. Our lovely cow started starving, prompting us to rise as early as 4 am and fetch thinny dry shrubs and grass along roadsides and river banks. Our milk production fell from 12 liters a day to 3 liters. The family got stressed with the unstoppable cow mows, rendering the neighborhood complaints about our darling cow noise nuisance due to undernutrition. “Daddy, I will find a way, I am in a country of solutions, not setbacks and regrets. Internet surfing led me to a new technology called Hydroponics Fodder”. Liaising with the external expert made the technology knock at our door, in Rwanda". The UKC member and vision bearer said.

Kytabu is a textbook subscription application that provides students with an affordable way to access educational materials on low-cost Android tablets or desktop applications. The platform allows users to rent textbooks by pages, chapters, or entire books for varying durations—hourly, daily, weekly, or monthly—using mobile money for payment. Kytabu offers access to the entire education curriculum library, enabling students to select the content they need while accommodating their budget. Each device comes preloaded with 8GB of textbook content on a microSD card and includes a SIM card for mobile data connectivity, facilitating updates and additional content from publishers. This model ensures that students have access to up-to-date and easily purchasable educational resources.

Zeraki is an educational technology company focused on improving access to quality education and facilitating smoother transitions between educational levels and into employment. The company operates a platform designed to enhance instructional quality while streamlining administrative tasks for educators. By providing valuable insights, Zeraki empowers educational stakeholders to make informed decisions, ultimately aiming to elevate the overall educational experience for students.

Eneza Education Limited, founded in 2011 and based in Nairobi, Kenya, specializes in providing mobile technology-based education services. The company offers a virtual tutor and teacher's assistant, enabling students and teachers to access curriculum-aligned courses, assessments, and interactive support from live instructors via mobile devices. Its platform includes locally-adapted tutorials, tips, assessments, and features such as a leaderboard and live teacher chat, accessible through various formats including USSD/SMS, a web app, an offline desktop app, and an Android app. Eneza Education targets individual parents, students, and teachers with subscription-based access to its educational resources, ensuring that learners across Kenya, from urban centers to rural areas, can benefit from comprehensive, on-demand educational support.

Zibuza is an online platform that fosters a professional learning community for teachers in South Africa. It offers a personalized and comprehensive range of educational resources, including lesson plans, activities, and multimedia content, tailored to teachers' locations, grades, subjects, and interests. The platform facilitates collaboration and knowledge-sharing among educators, learners, parents, and organizations, aiming to enhance teaching quality and save teachers' time.

Siyavula Education is an education technology company focused on enhancing high school students' performance in mathematics and science through personalized, technology-driven learning solutions. The company has developed innovative software that allows learners to practice subjects such as Maths, Physics, and Chemistry in an adaptive manner, catering to individual needs and providing targeted feedback to help students master essential concepts and skills. Additionally, Siyavula offers openly licensed, curriculum-aligned textbooks that facilitate online learning, making quality education more accessible to learners and teachers across South Africa.

O’Genius Priority is Empowering Genuine Welfare. IT solutions, Web and Mobile development.

Chalkboard Education is a developer of a mobile platform focused on digitizing distance learning. The company collaborates with universities, training institutions, and businesses to convert educational content into a digital format, allowing users to access training materials remotely from any device, even without Internet connectivity. This approach enhances the ability to train and survey beneficiaries across Africa, facilitating seamless tracking of educational impact. By prioritizing accessibility, Chalkboard Education aims to expand educational opportunities for students in various regions.

M-Shule Ltd. is a mobile learning management platform based in Nairobi, Kenya, founded in 2016. It specializes in providing tailored educational content primarily in Maths and English through an adaptive learning engine that matches students with lessons suited to their individual needs. By utilizing SMS technology, M-Shule delivers personalized lessons directly to students and parents, allowing for continuous learning outside of traditional classroom settings. The platform not only tracks and analyzes student progress but also shares insights and reports with schools and educators, fostering collaboration among parents, teachers, and institutions. M-Shule aims to enhance educational access for offline and low-income communities in East Africa, enabling millions to benefit from self-paced, interactive learning resources.

AkooBooks Audio is a platform and experience provider focused on transforming mobile phones and devices into 'accessible libraries' of Black/African audiobooks in English and African languages, that reach new audiences.

Hitch Tech Inc., established in 2018 and headquartered in Kitchener, Canada, specializes in developing an educational video platform tailored for African schools. The company creates battery-powered video hotspots that store educational videos offline, allowing students and teachers to access them via WiFi or local networks, even in areas with limited internet connectivity or power infrastructure. Hitch Tech curates and aligns these videos with local curricula and textbooks, making them locally relevant and accessible, thereby transcending literacy barriers and catalyzing educational potential in underserved communities.

Instill Education is a start-up organization based in Rosebank, South Africa, focused on transforming teaching and school leadership across Africa. Established in 2015, the company addresses the urgent need for high-quality teaching capacity on the continent through a practically immersive graduate learning program. This program combines integrated classroom training, demand-driven initiatives, and evidence-based pedagogies to enhance educator effectiveness. By employing data-driven methodologies, Instill Education aims to improve learner engagement and optimize time on task in every lesson, ultimately elevating the quality of teaching and learning in African schools.

Schoolinka is an Edtech company based in Nigeria, specializing in continuous professional development and job placement for K-12 teachers in Africa. It uses AI and machine learning to match teachers with tailored skill development resources and suitable job opportunities. The platform serves as a hub for teachers, schools, and professional development resources, featuring a Learning Management System (LMS) for online courses and a job board for vacancy postings and applications. By connecting educators with relevant resources and job opportunities, Schoolinka aims to enhance teaching quality and improve the overall school workforce in Africa.

Flex Finance is a spend management platform tailored for small and medium-sized enterprises in Africa, addressing the critical issue of financial mismanagement that leads to high business failure rates. Recognizing that 90% of businesses on the continent may not survive past five years due to inadequate financial oversight, Flex provides tools to streamline expense management. The platform features an intuitive user interface that facilitates budgeting, expense tracking, digital requisitions, and bulk payment transfers. By offering these services through both mobile and web applications, Flex empowers businesses to digitize their financial operations, making them more efficient and better equipped to manage their spending in an increasingly digital environment.

Zlto is a virtual incentives platform that allows organizations to track and increase positive behavior while generating valuable data on emerging markets.

RecyclePoints is a waste recycling and social benefit venture that encourages post-consumers to recycle by creating value from their everyday waste. The company operates an incentive-based scheme that collects recyclable materials and rewards participants with points. These points can be accumulated and redeemed for various household items available in their iRecycle store. By motivating individuals and corporations to engage in recycling, RecyclePoints aims to reduce waste while providing tangible rewards for environmentally responsible behavior.

Tulaa is a Nairobi-based company founded in 2017 that focuses on enhancing the agricultural sector by connecting smallholder farmers with suppliers, financial service providers, and commodity buyers. The company develops a software application that enables farmers to buy and sell agricultural products, facilitating access to affordable financing for inputs and improving market connections. By leveraging mobile technology and last mile agent networks, Tulaa aims to reduce the costs and risks associated with doing business in rural areas. The platform offers farmers essential information on farming supplies, credit options, and tailored advice, ultimately empowering them to improve sales and gain better access to markets.

Jumo is a fintech company that specializes in providing banking technology aimed at enhancing financial access in emerging markets, particularly in Africa and Asia. The company partners with banks to deliver loans, savings, and various financial services to traditionally underserved customers. By utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning, Jumo develops credit scores and financial products tailored to individual needs. Their platform also employs behavioral data from mobile usage to establish financial identities for small and medium enterprises, allowing customers to engage with financial services in a cost-effective and responsible manner. Jumo offers essential reporting, analytics, and insights to its partners, facilitating improved service delivery and financial choices for their clients.

Jumo is a fintech company that specializes in providing banking technology aimed at enhancing financial access in emerging markets, particularly in Africa and Asia. The company partners with banks to deliver loans, savings, and various financial services to traditionally underserved customers. By utilizing artificial intelligence and machine learning, Jumo develops credit scores and financial products tailored to individual needs. Their platform also employs behavioral data from mobile usage to establish financial identities for small and medium enterprises, allowing customers to engage with financial services in a cost-effective and responsible manner. Jumo offers essential reporting, analytics, and insights to its partners, facilitating improved service delivery and financial choices for their clients.

Zoona is a mobile technology company focused on providing financial services to underserved communities across Africa. Founded in 2009, it has established a robust distribution network that facilitates money transfers, electronic voucher payments, savings, credit, and bill payments primarily for unbanked customers. With operations in Zambia, Malawi, and Mozambique, Zoona leverages cutting-edge technology and a network of agents to ensure safe and reliable access to financial services. The company has processed over $2 billion in transactions and has received recognition from organizations such as The Nike Foundation and The Unreasonable Group for its impactful contributions to empowering young entrepreneurs and helping to alleviate poverty, particularly among girls.

Carnegie Mellon University is a renowned private research university, offering undergraduate and graduate programs across diverse fields, with a strong focus on technology and arts. It is particularly distinguished for its School of Computer Science, recognized globally for its research and education, and the Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, which uniquely combines management and policy expertise. The university serves various sectors, including education, technology, and the arts, contributing significantly to these fields through its academic programs and research.

GiftedMom is the first mobile health platform in Central Africa, which uses low cost technologies to improve the health conditions of pregnant women and new borns in under served and disconnected communities. The GiftedMom project was started by a group of Medical and engineering students, Medical Doctors, health and community workers, with vision to reduce maternal mortality rates (Millennium Development Goal 5) as well as infant Mortality rates (MDG 4) in Cameroon. The project comprises a Web and Mobile platform, SMS Services and Google Fusion Tables, all aimed at divulging important information on the proper management of pregnancy, and a healthy follow up of newborns.

Tespire is a technology company that specializes in providing cloud-based administrative software for primary and secondary schools. Their platform offers a comprehensive suite of tools designed to manage student applications, enrollment, and learning experiences, including online learning materials, assignments, assessments, and progress tracking. Additionally, Tespire's solution includes a hardware box and cloud solution to streamline administrative processes in schools, and provides parents with a single login to manage multiple children's accounts.