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Black Funders Fund has created over 4,600 jobs —Google

As part of its efforts to give a lifeline to tech-business innovators in Africa and foster decent job creation, the world leading search engine, Google, has recently announced a $4 million startups funds to 60 eligible technologically inclined businesses founded by Africans citizens residing in the continent through its Black Founders Fund project.

Google also said the Black Founders Fund initiative has created over 4,600 jobs across Africa and has raised over $290 million between 2012 and 2022.

At an event to announce the award of the fund held in Abuja, which was well-attended by Nigerian government officials, Google representatives and some of the beneficiaries, Google Head, Startup Ecosystem Africa, Mr Folarin Aiyegbusi, said the winners of the startup fund would receive support in the form of six months training programme and non-dilutive awards of $50,000, $100,000 and $200,000, accordingly.

“Sixty eligible black-founded startups across Africa have been selected for the second cohort of Google for Startups Black Founders Fund (BFF) for Africa. The startups joining the programme will receive a total of $4 million in funding and support to enable them to scale up their ongoing work.

“Each of the selected startups will receive support in the form of a six-month training programme that includes access to a network of mentors to assist in tackling challenges that are unique to them. They will also be part of tailored workshops, support networks and community building sessions. The 60 grantees will also get non-dilutive awards of between $50,000 and $100,000 and up to $200,000 in Google Cloud credit,” the statement read.

Furthermore, it added, “The grantees, made up of 50 per cent women-led businesses, hail from Botswana, Cameroon, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, South Africa and Uganda. They specialise in sectors such as fintech, healthcare, e-commerce, logistics, agtech, education, hospitality and smart cities. The top five countries with the most startups selected for the programme are Nigeria with 23 grantees, Kenya with 12 grantees, Rwanda with six grantees, South Africa with five grantees and Uganda with four grantees. Botswana and Senegal have one selected startup each, Cameroon and Ghana both have three grantees each while Ethiopia has two selected grantees.”

Earlier Folarin Aiyegbusi, said that “Africa is a diverse continent with massive opportunity but the continent is faced with the challenge of limited diversity in venture capital funding flow. We hope that the Black Founders Fund programme will be able to bridge the gap of disproportionate funding between expat startups over local and black-led companies.”

The statement again said, “Funding for the Google for Startup Black Founders Fund will be distributed through Google’s implementation partner, CcHub. The equity-free cash assistance to startups will enable them to take care of immediate needs such as paying staff, funding inventory, and maintaining software licences.

This is to help the grantees buffer the cost of taking on debt in the early stages of their business as many of them do not have steady revenue streams yet,” Aiyegbusi concludes.

“Funding Black founders in Africa fuels generational and systemic change. The Google for Startups Black Founders Fund for Africa programme reinforces Google’s commitment to empowering entrepreneurs and startups in the region as a vital prerequisite to driving employment and growth on the continent.”

In his remarks, the Director-General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Inuwa Kashifu, said, “Funding is one of the biggest challenges facing the entrepreneurial startup ecosystem. What Google is doing in this project is not just funding but smart funding, because what I hear is that Google is going to help us to identify critical areas that can ignite activities within the ecosystem.

“From our own part as a government, we believe our responsibility is to come up with policies that can enable a level playing field. And the government is doing a lot in this area. Starting from expanding the mandate of our ministry to cover the digital economy, and the National Digital Economy Policy for a digital Nigeria.”

The NITDA DG also hinted that the National Digital Economy Policy outlines eight strategic pillars which are key to the ecosystem. He further noted that the strategies are all related to the intervention the Google funding is going to help to achieve in Nigeria and Africa at large.

On his part, the CEO, MyMedicines and alumni of the 2021 BFF program, Abimbola Adebakin, said, “Programmes like the Black Founders Fund enhance the African ecosystem where we currently have gaps in funding and infrastructure. Google getting involved and throwing its might behind thriving entrepreneurs in Africa is a beautiful thing, and I am very happy that Google has continued the Black Founders Fund in Africa initiative in 2022.”

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