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Kenya’s iHub has announced the 27 startups selected to take part in the Traction Camp accelerator, with digital startups from five East African countries joining the second cohort.

Disrupt Africa reported last year m:lab East Africa – which has since been subsumed into iHub – and the World Bank Group’s infoDev programme launched the Traction Camp initiative, one of a series of accelerator programmes being launched by the World Bank across Africa.

For the inaugural edition of the accelerator, 20 startups from Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Uganda were chosen to join the six-month programme, which culminated with a demo day last September.

Applications to the second cohort were open to applicants from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda, Ethiopia, South Sudan, Burundi and Somalia – with 27 startups now selected to join the programme, chosen from among over 150 applications.

The startups operate in the fields of fintech, energy, healthcare, education, agriculture, cyber security and e-commerce.

Sixteen (16) of the new participants are from Kenya: TozzaPlus; Sheria Soft; GrassRoots Bima; Bunifu Framework; Taimba Limited; Elimisha Tutors; Be Afrika Media Ltd; Ejenzi Africa; Zoa; Denkim Insurance; Baobab Circle; Lacel Technologies; Azima; B2B Smartlink Ltd; Klientele Ltd; and Mimea Agricultural Solution.

Nampya Farmers’ Market; Yasa; Skooldesk; and Ancaps Global Tech are the four startups from Uganda; while Sauti East Africa Limited spans both Kenya and Uganda.

There are two startups each from Somalia – SolarGen Technologies; SomHealth – and Tanzania – SmartFit; and Tango TV.

The cohort is completed by one Rwandan startup, Uplus.

iHub said it was particularly pleased by the amount of strong applications received from Somalia and South Sudan, which “shows that there is need for such programmes in the Eastern Africa ecosystem”.

The programme will kick off in March, and will see the startups receive mentoring from global and local experts, learning through a tailor-made curriculum  which is delivered mostly online. It then culminates with a one-week residency in Kenya, where the startups will have the opportunity to interact with and learn from their mentors, coaches, peers, potential partners and gain access to investors.

“We believe we have unearthed some solid startups in this cohort of 27, who will go on to do wonders for themselves and the ecosystem in general. We look forward to working with the cohort. Thank you to all the applicants and congratulations to the 27 in our current cohort,” iHub said.

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