C4DLab admits the first 4 startups to its AfTIA program

The University of Nairobi’s C4DLab has admitted four startups to its AfTIA (Africa Technology and Innovation Accelerator) programme. The first cohort of startups includes Farmdrive, Learmine, VoSpine and Silcon Savannah.

The startups admitted solve problems in the domains of agriculture, social, transport and education. The acceleration programme which commenced on November 9, 2015, will run for five months.

The AfTIA program will provide the startups with training, mentorship, networking and some funding. The startups are expected to graduate from the incubation programme in March 2016.

AfTIA aims at implementing the startup incubation and acceleration component of a broader vision of the C4DLab. The goal of AfTIA is to be the global reference point in developing scalable IT-based enterprises for sustainable development. A call for the startups was made during the launch. More than 60 applications were received and after a rigorous selection process, four startups were selected for the acceleration program.

Farmdrive have pioneered an innovative way to use data that is generated in smallholder farmers’ value chains for financial inclusion. By harnessing the power of data analytics and mobile technology, they aggregate and analyze pertinent information about smallholder farmers from dynamic traditional and alternate data points – including produce offtakers, agro-dealers and the farmers themselves. They build innovative comprehensive credit profiles used for real-time credit assessment to then serve smallholder farmers through digital financial services.

Learmine is a platform that enables users to virtually share knowledge with other users by promoting and powering real time learning and collaborative environment. Learnmine aims to bring as much of the real world classroom into today’s rapidly growing virtual space.

VoSpine is a social networking platform that brings together people with similar interests so that together they can share their knowledge and experiences to help improve the lives and livelihoods of each other. VoSpine, believe that social media should not just be a place for having fun but also a place for learning.

Silcon Savannah have developed an intelligent traffic device. The device will be used to help the traffic officers to manage and significantly reduce the number of car accidents which are related to speeding and driver overworking. IT will warn, caution and bill the driver if there are black spots, children crossing, animal crossing, zebra crossing and gives the driver the limit of speed he/she should drive at that particular area/zone.