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US-based Africa-focused investment organisation tiphub has selected 14 startups to join its accelerator, culminating in the “Diaspora Demo Day” pitching competition.

Disrupt Africa reported in 2014, tiphub launched its inaugural Diaspora Demo Day, inviting 25 startups to pitch their businesses to an audience of investors, policy makers, entrepreneurs, industry experts and judges.

In August this year, tiphub announced it would host the second edition of the event, although in a scaled-up version, involving an accelerator programme culminating in a demo day event.

tiphub said it received over 150 applications from entrepreneurs across Africa and in the diaspora.

14 startups have been selected to join the programme; among them Nigeria’s ScholarX, which operates a platform for finding student scholarships; Swiftly, which matches people with goods to ship with spare space in containers; and South Africa’s You Baby & I –  a marketing company that specialises in helping mothers connect with one another through personal stories of motherhood.

Other offline and tech startups from Egypt, Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria and Tanzania, as well as the US, also made the cut.

“This year’s pool of submissions was very difficult to select from due to the high quality of entrepreneurs we encountered,” said tiphub co-founder Chinedu Enekwe.

“It’s actually great to see the ecosystem evolve to the point where the pool of diverse and dynamic companies is so deep.”

The startups will now follow a programme of  mentorship, guidance, expertise  and advisory support, which also includes a residency in Washington, DC.

Startups will pitch to an audience of investors, industry experts and a renowned panel of judges on November 11  at the US Chamber of Commerce.

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