M-Pesa, developed in Kenya, is now a widely used mobile money system used all throughout Africa. However, there are more and more startups springing up all across the continent. From Ghana to Nigeria, innovative tech startups in Africa are finally having their time under the spotlight.
1. Njorku, a startup based out of Cameroon, is helping users find careers all across the continent. The job search engine is a free service which connects people to thousands of job listings. Since its inception in early 2011, Njorku gets thousands of unique visitors per month and is growing steadily month-to-month.
2. AdsBrook allows advertisers to run integrated campaigns across several platforms. The company allows businesses to reach a fast growing audience on web and mobile devices.
3. Gloo.ng is an online grocery business based out of Nigeria. The site allows people to shop from the comfort of their own home and caters to a city, Lagos of 21 million. The company now employs over 100 people.
4. Mara Online is often referred to as Africa’s answer to Skype. It allows users to communicate and collaborate through web and mobile platforms. The goal of Mara is to connect young entrepreneurs with businesspeople all around the world.
5. PriceCheck, of South Africa is the largest price comparison site in Africa. The site enables users to get the best deal by comparing thousands of items from different online sellers.
6. BiNu, is a mobile application that turns any low-end mobile device into a smartphone. One of the main features of this application is boosting Internet speeds up to 10 times faster. Other functions include providing news, weather and entertainment. BiNu users can also message each other and set up social profiles.
7. Konga is the largest online megastore in Africa, and is Nigeria’s answer to Amazon. Users are able to buy products straight from their mobile devices and can expect it to be delivered to their doorstep within five days. Konga carries a range of products from cosmetics to electronics to clothing.
8. Iroko is the largest distributor of African entertainment in the entire world. The company has built a global audience of over 6 million unique users from 178 different countries. Commonly known as “Africa’s Netflix”, the company provides a huge selection of movies from Hollywood to Nigeria’s very own Nollywood.
9. Saya, a messaging client based out of Ghana is cutting the costs of SMS for all of its users. The cross-platform application brings smart-phone like messaging to billions of low-end devices. This is extremely important for communication because instead of texting, people can use this application to chat with one another and even set up group conversations.
10. MXit is a social network in Africa that now has 50 million registered users. The company is a free online instant messenger that runs on close to 3000 mobile handsets. Users can play multiplayer games, buy music and videos clips, and can even exchange goods between one another.
Start-up companies have great potential for growth and the Weissman Center for International Business offers financial support for those doing unpaid internships. The Baruch Entrepreneurial Intern Fellowship Program is available for the fall, spring and summer semester. For more information stop by the Weissman Center today!