On March 1st, we announced to the final 12 participants of the SC Women in Tech that will be part of Cohort 2 of the programme. The 12 participants were selected out of 40 businesswomen who had been shortlisted and taken part in a weeklong bootcamp. The bootcamp held in February taught the women essential business skills, which culminated in a two-day pitch session held at the Standard Chartered Bank headquarters in Lusaka.
Following the pitch, 12 businesses were selected as the final participants of cohort 2. The pitches were so good, that we increased the number from the last cohort which had 10 business.
Here they are:
Shengamo Media
Founder: Mafunase Ngosa Malenga
Shengamo Media is a software development company that looks to streamline business operations through systems and applications. Our focus is usually towards SMS’s.
ToMwaRe Solution Limited
Founder: Mwaka Mbikusita-Lewanika
ToMwaRe Solution Limited trains, coaches, and mentors children from as young as 4 years in KidPreneurship & TeenPreneurship, Leadership, Public Speaking, Time Management, Teamwork & Customer Service. We help children discover & embrace their talent or passion as we together brainstorm on innovative business ideas or how their talent or passion can bring positive change in the industry they end up in.
Rivuuz
Founder: Michelle Chimuka
Rivuuz is an online marketplace that connects customers to high-quality, vetted service providers across a wide range of service categories. The big picture is to be a one-stop-shop with several service categories from hairdressers, bookkeepers to party entertainers. It will feature search, booking and payment functionality as well as advice and personalised recommendation for service providers and users. Rivuuz aims to digitise services and redefining how services are bought and sold in Zambia
Tinker Technologies
Founder: Otensia Kapinga
Tinker Technologies leverages technology to solve real world problems. We have most recently been working in the real estate market. We leverage existing technologies to connect homeowners and agents with potential renters. This has been achieved through social media channels, chat applications and phone calls. We are looking to grow our business by creating a web/mobile application for better customer outreach.
Zedex Vendors
Founder: Karen Tembo and Mercy Tembo
Zedex is an e-commerce website and mobile application that connects multiple online stores and customers together on a single platform.
We work with delivery services so customers can shop in the comforts of their home. Vendors on Zedex can either be companies, small businesses or individuals looking to expand their customer base. Our goal is to ensure a safe online shopping environment for customers while providing the smallest of business owners a means of reaching customers countrywide.
Mighty Finance Solution Limited
Founder: Vwanganji Amatende Bowa
Mighty Finance Solution is a fintech that is empowering SMEs with access to finance. We offer microloans with a primary but not limited focus on women-owned and women-led SMEs.
We use their credit history to offer on demand credit with a pay later facility and we assist SMEs build a credit score with us, the higher the score, the more capital they can access. This ensures they survive cash flow constraints and mitigate risks and we provide an inspiring and easy lending experience.
LARN Innovation Hub
Founder: Susan Mwandila
LARN Innovation Hub is a digital platform that looks to provide Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) lessons to children in primary from the age of 3 to 13 by use of animations and games. The aim of the hub is to ensure inclusiveness for all as it will be available for all children regardless of location. The project aims to provide the lessons via a website, an app, tablets, and education crusades.
Wilocate Logistics
Founder: Wika Kawina
Wilocate is a logistics start-up providing removal services and until recently FMCG distribution to informal retailers, corporate, and customers at the household level.
We have signed up as sub-distributors with three major distribution companies in Zambia which allows us to offer the market day to day groceries at competitive prices. Our goal is to provide local manufacturers access to the informal market which makes up 70% of Zambia’s trade market.
Accessbubble
Founder: Hannah Siliya
Accessbubble is a tech startup that curates upskill training programs, and develops websites, apps, and games; for local businesses to transform their traditional operational activities with efficient digital touch points. We believe that the business can contribute to cross sector development that uplifts community, catalyze national digital transformation, and meet the need for service design at an affordable rate, across Zambia.
Edge Express LTD
Founder: Amandra Musuumba
Edge Express is a transport and logistics and e-commerce company which is vendor app for individuals or businesses offering taxi, bike delivery and truck services.
Team Gematrix Limited
Founder: Cholwe Shabukali
Team Gematrix is one of the top-rated Esports Agencies in Africa. We work with gamers from different parts of the world by helping them transform their passion into careers. We have hosted Esports events from scratch, sourced and hired talent, provided consultancy on gaming-related projects, and, of course, managed the careers of some of today’s brightest gamers and won a total of 8 Sub-Saharan eSports championships.
AfriConté
Founder: Mubiana Kabaghe and Mayaba Shakankale
Africonté is a pro-African brand that collaborates with local talented artists in Africa to birth contemporary handmade homeware. We are a woman-run organisation supporting marginalised women artisans in the most rural parts of Africa. We specialise in developing unique sustainable handmade homeware products for the hospitality sector and individual homeowners predominantly for western markets.
There you have it – the top 12 of the SC Women in Tech Cohort 2!
We wish all our participants the best of luck as they work on their businesses to be one of the 5 lucky winners of $10,000 for their businesses.