Some Nigerian and Ghanian startups and students have been shortlisted to participate in Season 2 of the annual Facebook Accelerator Nigeria.
The eight startups and four students were selected from the applications that were received from innovators across Nigeria and Ghana. They will now participate in the six-month programme.
[READ MORE: Just like Facebook, Google is under investigation]
The Head, Public Policy for Facebook West Africa, Adaora Ikenze, while speaking about the programme, which is organised in conjunction with Co-Creation Hub, said that the programme was brought back as a result of the success of the previous edition.
Ikenze said: “We’re delighted to be bringing this programme back for a 2nd year to NG_Hub, and for the very first time including Ghanaian innovators. The success of last year’s programme, which saw the graduating teams cumulatively raise over $400,000 in investments and grants as at April 2019, reinforces the amazing talent pool and ground-breaking solutions we see being created from across the continent and here in Nigeria. Young innovators using cutting edge technologies to build solutions that are both locally and globally relevant.”
About the teams: The twelve teams which have been selected from Nigeria and Ghana will be unveiled on Friday, September 27 with a demo event which will provide an opportunity for the teams to pitch and showcase a demo of their solutions.
The teams accepted are VNTS, Appruve, Curacel Systems, Neohaul Technologies, Chekkit Technologies LLC, VMEDKIT, Gradely and Simbi Interactive. The four student teams are Vinsighte, Mus-Comm, InventOne and GESAL.
[READ ALSO: Here is why Facebook is under probe again]
Facebook Accelerator is a tech acceleration programme aimed at supporting and empowering students and entrepreneurs to build locally relevant solutions using advanced technology. The research and the mentorship-driven programme will provide the teams with access to product and industry experts, as well as deeper knowledge on how to optimise solutions which leverage technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) Data Science, Augmented Reality (AR) and Virtual Reality (VR).