MEST and the Mastercard Foundation Provide Grant Funding to 7 Ghanaian Startups through MEST Express Accelerator
Ghana is home to a vibrant tech startup ecosystem, with over 500 technology startups launched across the country in the last decade. Despite this, few Ghanaian startups receive the follow-on investment needed to grow and scale.
And this is exactly why the MEST Express startup accelerator was in 2020. Since its inception the program which is run in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation has accelerated 89 startups and provided over $189,000 in grant funding to 25 startups, enabling them to further their growth and increase their impact.
In addition to the training, mentorship, and funding the startups also have access to MEST Africa’s global network of experts and investors with a lifetime of support from the community.
Startups such as Motito, Wi-flix, Tendo, Swoove, and Stabus who went through the accelerator have also gone on to secure further investments or have been acquired after completing the program.
Last year, the accelerator successfully ran three cohorts across Accra and Kumasi, with 30 startups from these regions. To further support their growth plans, seven startups from this batch have been awarded grant funding of $57,000.
Meet the grant winners:
When Benjamin Aseidu and Edward Mensah founded Traderex, their goal was to become the market leader in sourcing highly sought-after commodities within the shortest possible time. Today, their startup provides mechanisation and warehousing initiatives for small-scale grain farmers to improve yield, minimise post-harvest losses and increase the farmers’ revenue. Leveraging technology, their solution provides farmers with access to new financial markets through electronic trading platforms that guarantee off-take. Through the program, they have strengthened their operations and established a legal compliance team, allowing them to improve efficiency.
Bolstaar is a farm technologies aggregation platform that allows smallholder farmers to have on-demand access to farm technologies, machinery, and implements within 48hrs, creating value for farmers and tech providers at the same time. The platform also provides farmers with supply chain information and link farmers to available markets.
Currently, they have onboarded 275 farmers onto their platform and are looking to build farm tech villages. The MEST Express program has helped them develop a more robust go-to-market strategy with key metrics designed to guide and propel their growth.
Stride Delivery is an on-demand delivery platform that connects e-commerce merchants, businesses, and individuals to couriers across the city. In addition to delivery services, they help customers increase their sales through the Stride Store — an e-commerce platform that enables customers to open a storefront, sell, collect payments, and have their products delivered conveniently.
For founders Eyram Amedzor and Emmanuel Fache, the program has helped transform their startup’s branding, helping them to communicate their value more effectively to their audience and adopt a more efficient customer acquisition strategy.
Skunni is a simple, robust, and affordable online school management system that helps primary and tertiary institutions automate otherwise time-consuming administrative work. The web-based platform also generates insightful reports that help school administrators make better and faster decisions, allowing teachers to spend more time in the classroom supporting students.
Prior to joining the MEST Express Program, founders Stephen Ofori, Emmanuel Ofosuhene, and Joseph Anto had challenges convincing schools of the benefits of their platform. With support from mentors and expert advisors, the team developed a strategy that increased the number of schools on the platform.
Poultry Mall is an e-commerce platform that provides farmers with a guaranteed marketplace for their produce.
Since joining the MEST Express program, Poultry Mall has been able to strengthen its legal framework and data room. At present, the company is expanding its business operations to Accra while optimising its online platform.
Hakama is a food processing business that makes convenient home cooking products to address post-harvest losses and ensure food safety in Ghana’s food value chain. The female-led startup was initially established in 2019 to supply salt to secondary schools in Ghana. But the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic pushed founder Zeinab Acheampong to adopt a new product and business model to sustain the business.
In pursuit of growth, Hakama joined the MEST Express program to expand its customer reach and secure investments. Through strategic partnerships with other MEST startups, they have improved their operations and seen an increase in sales. With support from mentors in the program, an e-commerce platform has been created to sell directly to their customers.
Moreplex offers holistic skin and hair care solutions through an AI-powered dermatology platform that diagnoses, prescribe products, and gives personalized skincare routines. They also provide training in soap making to rural women as part of an effort to empower them with economic opportunities.
For founder and CEO Prince Baffour Agyei and team, the MEST Express Accelerator was an opportunity to address the gaps in their business operations and become investor-ready. Through the program, Morplex has closed partnerships that allow them to expand their reach to other parts of the country.
