Hello Friends,
Welcome to the Ghana Innovation Journal newsletter. Blitz what happened in weeks 4 to 5 in Ghana’s innovation landscape.
- Blossom Academy secures funding to further its mission of creating a pathway for untapped African talents.
- eSAL secures funding from Growth Investment Partners to support its expansion.
- Elucid secures funding from UBS Optimus Foundation to close its seed funding round.
- StacAi, the financial trust infrastructure, appointed as technology partner for the Ghana Integrated Financial Ecosystem.
- Bethniel Fintech partners with Salam Insurance to make life insurance accessible.
- Revna Biosciences partners with Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business.
- Zuputo selected for tretton37’s Startup Boost programme.
- Ghana’s Sewu-Steve Tawia appointed as Co-President of the French Tech Nairobi.
Financing rounds
- Blossom Academy, the talent accelerator company, has been selected as one of the portfolio partners of the African Visionary Fund. The fund aims to drive more unrestricted funding to African visionaries to accelerate their impact. Led by Jeph Acheampong, the startup aims to create a pathway for untapped African talents to develop data skills, help them enter the evolving job market, and empower them to establish lasting livelihoods. With Africa’s high unemployment rate in Africa, edtech companies like Blossom Academy are providing a critical need for skilling talent and matching young people to job opportunities.
- Elucid has closed its seed II funding round following an investment from UBS Optimus Foundation. The funding will help the company expand its geographical reach in Africa and South America, strengthen the central team, and further enhance its digital platform. Elucid, founded by Dr Julius Emmrich and Dr Samuel Knauss, pioneers an innovative data-driven technology solution that enables companies to collect reliable data for impact and sustainability reporting and also enables healthcare access for smallholder producers in the supply chain.
- The British International Investment-anchored fund, Growth Investment Partners (GIP) Ghana has made its first investment in the Ghanaian Business Process Outsourcing company E-Services Africa Ltd. The investment will support eSAL’s growth and its global delivery of cost-effective and high-quality outsourcing solutions for businesses.
Partnerships
- StacAi has been appointed a technology partner for the Ghana Integrated Financial Ecosystem (GIFE). The GIFE is a partnership with the Bank of Ghana, Development Bank Ghana and the Monetary Authority of Singapore to develop a global digital infrastructure for seamless trade and digital business services connectivity for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). The partnership will enable (SMEs) in both countries to expand businesses while introducing innovative FinTech and digital tools to help SMEs seamlessly complete their regular business needs. Led by Dr Arnold Kavaarpuo, StacAi has been entrusted to develop the local technology architecture for the GIFE since its financial trust infrastructure contains extensive financial data on consumers and SMEs. The platform enables financial institutions to authenticate, verify, score, and underwrite financial assets.
- Bethniel Fintech has partnered with Salam Insurance to make life insurance digitally accessible. As part of the partnership, users can access affordable and convenient life insurance to cover unforeseen and challenging events such as the loss of the life of loved ones, a sickness that requires spending nights at hospitals, and permanent injuries from work. Users have the option to subscribe to a monthly or annual insurance plan.
- The precision medicine healtech, Revna Biosciences, has partnered with Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business. As part of the collaboration, the university’s scholars will support the company’s strategic expansion into the West African and broader African markets. The scholars will help the company identify high-potential markets in Africa and develop tailored strategies for successful integration, ultimately leading to improved patient outcomes across the region. Led by Derrick Edem Akpalu, Revna’s goal is to increase access to advanced molecular diagnostics as a first step to making precision medicine a reality in Africa.
Talent moves
- Sewu-Steve Tawia, one of Ghana’s leading angel investors, has been appointed Co-President of the French Tech Nairobi community. The French Tech community aims to promote and support the French and East African tech ecosystems and encourage entrepreneurial initiatives. Steve Tawia is a fully bilingual English-French and previously lived in France with over 20 years of experience in investing, development finance, angel investing and PE and VC funds in Europe and Africa. He is the Managing Partner of the Nairobi-based Jaza Rift Ventures, a US$50 million digital health, medtech and biotech VC fund.
Accelerator
- The legal tech startup Zuputo has been selected among the ten companies for the Startup Boost programme launched by Sweden-based tech consulting company tretton37. Selected from a pool of over 50 applicants, the selected startups will be provided pro bono support in programming, design, and strategy. Founded by Jessie Abugre, Nana Adwoa Amponsah-Mensah, and Kwame Owusu Afram in August 2023, Zuputo aims to make legal services accessible and affordable.
