9 Startups Admitted To Africa Transformative Mobility Accelerator (ATMA)

Africa Mobility Initiative (AMI) has through its accelerator program, Africa Transformative Mobility Accelerator (ATMA), admitted nine startups for the 2020/2021 cohort. AMI’s vision is to create a vast network of continental and global transformative mobility enthusiasts, who work together to create sustainable and scalable solutions to mobility challenges in Africa.

All nine startups are in the mobility space and are offering transformative, practical, well-researched and tested solutions addressing urban mobility challenges in African Cities. The startups were selected through a competitive process, after evaluating 112 applications from East African. The admitted startups will go through a six-month acceleration program set to be launched on 12 October 2020, running all the way to 30 April 2021 when AMI will host the Africa Mobility Summit.

AMI is implemented by the University of Nairobi’s C4DLab with support from Shell Foundation, the Transformative Urban Mobility Initiative (TUMI), the German Organisation for International Cooperation GmbH (GIZ), World Resources Institute (WRI) and UN-HABITAT. AMI is the immediate iteration of the TUMI Startup Accelerator that run in the 2018/2019 calendar year to provide technical support to eight startups that are working towards provision of transformative solutions to urban mobility challenges.

During the six-month acceleration period, the startups will benefit in several ways, including but not limited to:

1. Participate in two startup immersion trips in Kenya and Uganda.
2. Receive coaching and mentorship from local and international mobility and enterprise development experts.
3. Network with mobility stakeholders, practitioners and enthusiasts in separate sessions that will be organized in Nairobi and Kampala.
4. Attend a series of customised and curated seminars that will be facilitated by subject matter experts in relevant topics such as mobility, value proposition design and problem-solution fit, business modelling and product/service market fit, customer acquisition, financial modelling and investor relations.
5. Pitch their solutions to a selected and curated pool of investors at the Africa Transformative Mobility Summit in 2021.
6. Compete for a prize award of $25,000 with $10,000 for the runner up.

The nine selected startups are:

1. Amitruck (Kenya) Amitruck is bringing trust and transparency to transport. The company connects every cargo owner with interested transporters in a transparent, efficient and secure manner then lets them agree on their own terms.
2. Ecobodaa (Kenya) Ecobodaa plans to work on a rent-to-own model in Kenya so that the boda-bodas on their platform can eventually own the electric-powered motorcycles. Ecobodaa assembles electric motorbikes locally with a charging system. The motorbikes are given to bodaboda persons on a lease-to-own model.
3. Kiri EV Ltd (Kenya) Kiri Ev manufactures affordable, stylish electric vehicles for the Kenyan and East African market. Their motorcycles and scooters are designed to out-compete the incumbent 125cc and 150cc petrol motorcycles on power, durability and performance.
4. Smatbeba (Kenya) Smatbeba is revolutionising the transportation and logistics industry by making delivery of goods faster, reliable and efficient. Clients place orders on Smatbeba App or website and get quotations, they are able to track the progress of deliveries as well as have their goods insured while in transit.
5. SafariShare (Uganda) SafariShare is tailored for travelling individuals, keen on navigating through the demands of life safely and affordably. All that is required of a registered car owner/driver is, availing one’s travel me and routes to subscribers so that those who wish to travel to that destination can travel with a driver at a reasonable cost.
6. Easy Matatu (Uganda) Easy Matatu works with matatu drivers to provide a network of safe, clean and reliable prevetted minibuses accessible to any commuter through the Easy Matatu app.
7. Quick Tap (Uganda) QuickTap employs Near Field Communication (NFC) and Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technologies to deliver secure, easy, fast and efficient payments and access control services for bus companies. These technologies are an emerging solution to making cashless payments for goods and services in a secure and convenient way.
8. Zembo Motorcycle (Uganda) Zembo offers electric motorcycles to boda-boda drivers and recharges batteries in its solar stations. The drivers can acquire motorcycles on a rent to own basis and be able to get cheaper energy from their solar recharge station.
9. Ugabus (Uganda) UgaBus avails e-ticketing for buses operating across East Africa, enables travellers to buy bus tickets online through secure mobile money and card payment options. UgaBus also provides a smart ticketing gadget used at the ticketing stations.