If you attended the recently concluded Kampala Innovation Week that took place from October 16 - 18th, 2019, you know that startup culture is steadily growing in Uganda. A lot of startups were present to showcase their innovative ideas to a large number of over 1000 attendees and investors.
These are a few startups we checked out in Kla that we think are worth checking out.
Teheca Limited
Teheca is an E-health startup founded in 2015 whose main goal is to increase uptake of postnatal care services through availing useful maternal health information, products and services so as to reduce high mortality rates of mothers and newborns in Uganda and other developing countries.
It's app connects new mothers to nurses for hospital and in-home post-birth care and support, while the startup also makes and sells the prepared mama bag, a kit that contains all the essentials required for a clean and safe delivery.
The startup was the winner of the Seedstars world competition in Uganda and will join other startups allover the world in Switzerland to compete for the final prize of up to USD $1,000,000 in investment along with multiple prizes and perks.
Bodawerk
Bodawerk is a Kampala based start up that is developing prototypes for different applications around transportation, retail & street trading, agriculture and pharmacy with emphasis on the boda boda. They aim to develop into the leading provider of customized mobile Boda solutions to maintain and operate the most comprehensive mobility rental platform in the region. Currently, they are working on the E-boda and the Lithium- Ion Battery among other things also in production.
Laboremus
With an emphasis on fintech, Laboremus creates financial technology solutions for clients such as banks, financial institution and startup banks to get digital by providing cutting-edge tech, AI and big data with proven methods to create smart solutions.
Laboremus has partnered with Clarke International University and Fontes foundation to launch the tech academy Refactory to advance the Ugandan tech industry. The academy has developed 9 month program tailored at developing software and tech skills to make youth job-ready within 9 months.
Soqoni
Soqoni is our new favourite Kampala based online shopping portal for locally produced brands from Uganda and Africa. To shop for unique products from emerging african brands, head over to their website and order!
Reform Africa
Founded in 2018 by three young women, Reform Africa turns plastic waste into sustainable, waterproof and bags that are designed and made in Uganda. The production process of the bags includes collection of waste bags from dumpsites by local single mothers. The bags are then sorted, cleaned and sun dried. After sun drying, the bags are processed and then sent off to tailors to sew them into different types of bags.
The project has garnered awards and lots of recognition including a feature on Voice of America which you can check out here
Wefarm
Dubbing itself the "world's largest farmer to farmer digital network", Wefarm is a global scalable technology startup connecting farmers to each other in various regions across africa using a peer to peer network for offline communities. SMS is the main mode of communication.
Farmers connect with one another to solve problems, share ideas, and spread innovation, for free, and without needing an internet connection (Wefarm works even through SMS). Utilizing the latest machine learning technology, Wefarm’s service gets bespoke, crowd- sourced information to help farmers increase yields, gain insight into pricing, tackle the effects of climate change, source the best quality seeds, fertilizer, and loans and diversify their agricultural interests.
Mkazipreneur
Mkazipreneur is a female run startup with a brilliant idea connecting and empowering women in business. Mkazipreneur's mission is to close the gap of untapped business potential of women in business by providing them with a community to grow from. The said community platform was started to promote qualitative and quantitative women entrepreneurship through connecting, celebrating and empowering women entrepreneurs in Africa
The platform offers master classes where women can learn several business skills to help propel and improve their businesses. There's also a market place where fellow female entrepreneurs can promote and list their products for sale.