TechCentralTechCentral
    Facebook Twitter YouTube LinkedIn
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn YouTube
    TechCentral TechCentral
    NEWSLETTER
    • News

      New Openview channels coming as platform turns profitable

      27 May 2022

      Wapa’s Paul Colmer on why Icasa should open up 6GHz for Wi-Fi

      27 May 2022

      How Broadcom’s blockbuster VMware deal happened

      27 May 2022

      The cost for South Africa to quit its coal habit: R4-trillion – study

      26 May 2022

      Apple is feeling the smartphone industry chill

      26 May 2022
    • World

      Musk sued by Twitter investors for stock ‘manipulation’

      27 May 2022

      Broadcom agrees to buy VMware for $61-billion

      26 May 2022

      Musk pledges more equity to fund Twitter deal

      26 May 2022

      Sony looks beyond the console to PC and mobile gaming

      26 May 2022

      Andreessen Horowitz raises world’s largest crypto fund

      26 May 2022
    • In-depth

      Bernie Fanaroff – the scientist who put African astronomy on the map

      23 May 2022

      Chip giant ASML places big bets on a tiny future

      20 May 2022

      Elon Musk is becoming like Henry Ford – and that’s not a good thing

      17 May 2022

      Stablecoins wend wobbly way into the unknown

      17 May 2022

      The standard model of particle physics may be broken

      11 May 2022
    • Podcasts

      Spectrum auction opens up big growth opportunities – Ruckus Networks

      26 May 2022

      Everything PC S01E03 – ‘The story of Intel – part 1’

      25 May 2022

      The rewarding and lucrative careers to be had in infosec

      23 May 2022

      Dean Broadley on why product design at Yoco is an evolving art

      18 May 2022

      Everything PC S01E02 – ‘AMD: Ryzen from the dead – part 2’

      17 May 2022
    • Opinion

      A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

      19 May 2022

      From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

      19 April 2022

      How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

      8 April 2022

      Cash is still king … but not for much longer

      31 March 2022

      Icasa on the role of TV white spaces and dynamic spectrum access

      31 March 2022
    • Company Hubs
      • 1-grid
      • Altron Document Solutions
      • Amplitude
      • Atvance Intellect
      • Axiz
      • BOATech
      • CallMiner
      • Digital Generation
      • E4
      • ESET
      • Euphoria Telecom
      • IBM
      • Kyocera Document Solutions
      • Microsoft
      • Nutanix
      • One Trust
      • Pinnacle
      • Skybox Security
      • SkyWire
      • Tarsus on Demand
      • Videri Digital
      • Zendesk
    • Sections
      • Banking
      • Broadcasting and Media
      • Cloud computing
      • Consumer electronics
      • Cryptocurrencies
      • Education and skills
      • Energy
      • Fintech
      • Information security
      • Internet and connectivity
      • Internet of Things
      • Investment
      • IT services
      • Motoring and transport
      • Public sector
      • Science
      • Social media
      • Talent and leadership
      • Telecoms
    • Advertise
    TechCentralTechCentral
    Home»News»10 start-ups named for Barclays Accelerator

    10 start-ups named for Barclays Accelerator

    News By Staff Reporter5 April 2016
    Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Yossi Hasson
    Yossi Hasson

    The new accelerator programme for financial technology (fintech) start-ups backed by Barclays Africa and US accelerator Techstars has announced the names of 10 companies that have been selected to take part. More than 400 applications had been received.

    The Cape Town-based Barclays Accelerator joins similar Barclays-backed programmes in New York, London and Tel Aviv. It now intends taking the selected start-ups through an intensive 13-week programme.

    According to a report by Forbes, the companies selected are Inuka Pap (from Kenya), BimaAfya (Tanzania), Social Lender (Nigeria), Beyonic (US, but focused on Uganda and Kenya as its initial markets), tech4farmers (Uganda), Asoriba (Ghana), Reable (Lebanon), BenBen (US, focused on Ghana and a co-founder originally from Ghana), WizzPass (South Africa) and Simba Pay (UK and Kenya with Kenyan founders and focused on Kenya and Uganda). See the table below for a description of each start-up.

    Former Synaq MD Yossi Hasson is heading up the Cape Town accelerator as MD.

    The focus is specifically on fintech start-ups. Barclays hopes to use the programme to work with technologists who could end up disrupting the financial services industry.

    The 10 businesses accepted into the accelerator will now have access to senior Barclays executives, have early access to the bank’s technology and systems, and be given access to its global networks. They will also have access to any of the Barclays accelerators and can raise funding in any of those networks.

    Techstars, which describes itself as a mentorship-driven start-up accelerator, was founded in 2006 by David Cohen, Brad Feld, David Brow and Jared Polis and has to date taken 762 companies through its programme. The business has overseen more than US$2bn in funding to start-ups, with 90% of them still operationally active.

    barclays-accelerator-10-list-640

    The Techstar founders realised that entrepreneurs needed more than just capital to be successful, Hasson said in an interview with TechCentral in January. “They built the idea of taking 10 start-ups and putting them through an intensive three-month programme where they get access to seasoned entrepreneurs as mentors and industry experts.”

    The first month of the programme involves intensive mentorship, while the second month focuses on taking feedback and advice received and building traction by adapting strategy and, where necessary, changing the product or service being developed.

    The final month is about raising capital — focusing, for example, on how to pitch to venture capitalists. This leads to a “demo day”, where the start-ups pitch their business to a large audience made up of, among others, venture capitalists and angel investors.

    Those who go through the programme successfully become part of the broader Techstars network.

    Techstars will invest US$20 000 in successful applicants. This money will help pay for start-up teams to be physically present in Cape Town for the duration of the programme, which is one of the requirements of acceptance. In return, Techstars takes 6% equity in the start-up.

    A further $100 000 in the form of a convertible note (short-term debt that converts into equity) is also available from the Barclays Seeker Fund.  — (c) 2016 NewsCentral Media

    Barclays Barclays Accelerator Barclays Africa Brad Feld David Brow David Cohen Jared Polis Techstars Yossi Hasson
    Share. Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp Telegram Email
    Previous ArticleSABC fires 123 staff for ‘gross dishonesty’
    Next Article How secure is your phone’s lock screen?

    Related Posts

    New Openview channels coming as platform turns profitable

    27 May 2022

    Wapa’s Paul Colmer on why Icasa should open up 6GHz for Wi-Fi

    27 May 2022

    How Broadcom’s blockbuster VMware deal happened

    27 May 2022
    Add A Comment

    Comments are closed.

    Promoted

    Financial advisers: manage your commission and analyse revenue effortlessly

    27 May 2022

    BT, MTN Business form strategic alliance in Africa

    26 May 2022

    Think like a start-up: how to build a competitive digital enterprise

    26 May 2022
    Opinion

    A proposed solution to crypto’s stablecoin problem

    19 May 2022

    From spectrum to roads, why fixing SA’s problems is an uphill battle

    19 April 2022

    How AI is being deployed in the fight against cybercriminals

    8 April 2022

    Subscribe to Updates

    Get the best South African technology news and analysis delivered to your e-mail inbox every morning.

    © 2009 - 2022 NewsCentral Media

    Type above and press Enter to search. Press Esc to cancel.