MAN Impact Accelerator has shortlisted Nigeria’s drone startup Arone & Uganda’s electric startup Zem.bo into its 2019/20 cohort. The two African startups are among eight of the most innovative social business startups from Africa, Europe, and Brazil selected for the MAN Impact Accelerator’s third cohort. The startups were selected from 300 companies in over 40 countries that submitted their applications to be part of the accelerator programme.
The MAN Impact Accelerator supports social business startups in the field of mobility, transport and logistics to accelerate their impactful innovations. The Accelerator brings social entrepreneurs from Africa, Europe, and Brazil together to tackle social and environmental challenges through innovative solutions in the transport and logistics space.
Nigeria’s drone startup Arone builds drones for fast delivery of medical supplies to and from clinics, hospitals, labs and health facilities in Africa. Arone is bridging the gap between rural and urban health care centers by setting up drone delivery stations at blood banks and medical supplies distribution centers to provide a faster delivery of vital medical products to neighboring rural and urban clinics on demand.
Uganda’s Zem.bo, on the other hand, provides affordable electric motorcycles for motorcycle taxi drivers in Africa. They assemble and lease solar-powered motorcycles on a pay-as-you-go model with the possibility of owning the asset after two years. Zembo’s electric motorcycles are relatively cheaper to run when compared to the typical boda-bodas that run on fuel. Zem.bo
The other startups selected for the 2019/20 cohort include; Suma, a fair and direct trading platform connecting smallholder farmers with regular food buyers; Eu Vo, a transportation platform that connects trained drivers with elderly people with reduced mobility; and Nina, an online platform to track, standardize and centralize harassment cases in urban mobility.
Others include Koiki, an inclusive and green last-mile delivery network in Spain that employs people from vulnerable populations to deliver and pick-up parcels in their neighbourhoods by electric vehicle, walking or cycling; XYT, a new generation vehicle manufacturer that has developed a light, modular, durable and electric vehicle platform to provide tailor-made last mile delivery solution; and Addressya, a platform that leverages new technologies to make physical addresses available to everyone.
The MAN Impact Accelerator will kick off in November 2019. The eight selected startups will pass through Sao Paolo, Lisbon and Johannesburg during the cohort. They will also get the opportunity to meet impact investors.
