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Google Backs 15 South African AI Startups

Each can receive up to R1 million, from more than 1,000 expressions of interest. The aim is to support 50 South African startups by 2028.

Founder and Editor
2 min read
Cape Town with Table Mountain behind it
File photo: Cape Town. Josep M. Gracia, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons

[ The short version ]

  1. 01Google selected 15 AI-driven South African startups from over 1,000 expressions of interest for a three-month programme.
  2. 02Each can receive up to ZAR1 million, about $60,000, in equity-free funding, plus mentorship and access to Google's AI tools.
  3. 03The goal is to support 50 South African startups by 2028.

Google has picked 15 South African startups building with AI for a three-month accelerator, Africa AI News reported on 13 October.

R1M
Maximum equity-free funding per startup, about $60,00015 startups chosen from 1,000+ expressions of interest
  • Duration: three months.
  • Support: mentorship and access to Google's AI technologies, alongside the funding.
  • Goal: 50 South African startups supported by 2028.

Equity-free means Google takes no stake. The value to Google is a pipeline of founders building on its tools.

Sources and notes
  • #Google
  • #AIstartups
  • #SouthAfrica
  • #Accelerator

[ Written by ]

Founder and Editor

Victor Oluwaleye founded TheStak to explain what tech, AI and marketing actually change for the people running businesses, in Africa and beyond. A computer scientist by training and a marketer by trade, Victor has spent more than a decade leading marketing teams and building digital systems inside organisations, and runs Induuce Consultants, a growth and digital transformation agency in Lagos. More about Victor

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