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Ten startups have been selected for the African final of the Latitude59 competition, the winner of which will head to Tallinn, Estonia to pitch at the main event for a prize pool of EUR1 million (US$1.1 million).
The 12th edition of Latitude59, Estonia’s flagship startup and tech event, was held in Tallinn in May, and attracted over 3,500 attendees, including more than 900 startup representatives and nearly 600 investors.
Disrupt Africa reported last month Latitude59 was seeking early-stage startups from across Africa to compete for the chance to pitch at the next edition of its pitch competition, which will take place at next year’s edition of the event. For two years in a row, the prize pool for the Latitude59 pitch competition has been EUR1 million (US$1.1 million).
A total of 382 applications were received from 37 African countries, with the top 10 now selected. They will pitch at an event in Kenya on November 28, where the African winner will be chosen.
Eight of the selected ventures are Kenyan, including Eco Nasi, which transforms pineapple pulp waste into high-quality vegan leather; Grekkon, which is scaling up moisture sensors for smallholder farmers; NoMa, a tech platform that digitises school transportation; and Paycloud, which is building a neobank to help MSMEs in Africa to pay, get paid, and access credit through payment aggregation.
The other selected Kenyan ventures are Roadrims, which provides reliable, efficient, and cost-effective logistics; Twiva, a social commerce platform; VunaPay, which provides instant payments to farmers; and Zerobionic, which is developing a human-like robotic arm to help students with hearing impairments.
Also selected are Nigeria’s AcemyX, an LMS helping students prepare for exams with personalised learning tools and study materials; and Tanzania’s Afya Mama, which is providing answers to questions pertaining maternal care and reproductive health to women via SMS and web app.