Berlin-based Vodafone Institute Accelerator for Female Empowerment has selected two African startups; KaaroHealth (from Uganda), and Mowoza (from Mozambique) amongst the five that will join the second cohort of its F-LANE; a six-week acceleration program for high-potential digital impact ventures focusing on female empowerment – from over 180 applications that were submitted from over 50 different countries globally.
The F-LANE programme aims to foster the participation of women in technological development and improve the situation of girls and women around the world through technology.
The programme features mentorship and advice from Vodafone and external experts, as well as help in leveraging the global “Vodafone family”.
KaaroHealth founded by; Angella Kyomugisha, Brenda Nantongo, Joyce Nakawungu, and Francis Xavier Asiimwe, runs a telemedicine hub that provides a network of rural clinics with access to the services of qualified maternal and child health specialists. By providing these clinics with real-time access to qualified specialists, Kaaro Health is making a contribution in reducing maternal mortality.
KaaroHealth, and Mowoza (from Mozambique) will be joined by three other startups, Sou Sou (from the US), Gapsquare (from the UK), and Good on You (from Australia), and a micro-funding of up to 12,000 EUROS (roughly USD$14,405 or 51.8 million UGX) will also be offered to them.[related-posts]
About the other startups:
1. Sou Sou was founded by Fonta Gilliam and Innocent Ephraim – and is a mobile investment platform that partners with financial institutions and angel investors to decrease the time, cost and risk associated with lending to startups and early stage companies.
2. Founded by Zara Nanu and Ion Suruceanu, Gapsquare provides tools through technology that enable gender analysis within companies to develop plans for managing diversity and toarrow the gender gap. The dream is a world where women are paid the same as men for doing the same work. Gapsquare’s mission is to help organisations make sense of their gender pay gap data.
3. Founders Sandra Capponi and Gordon Renouf – developed a mobile application dubbed Good On You – that delivers ethical brand ratings to millions of consumers around the globe, who want to make more ethical choices.
4. Mowoza strengthens Women Owned Micro and Small Retailers in Mozambican informal markets by integrating these MSEs into ‘digital retail communities’. By applying smart, cutting edge technologies, to the informal retail sector they change marketplaces and retail in Mozambique and eventually in Africa. This was founded by; Suzana Moreira.