BongoHive welcomes 9 Zambian startups into 8th Launch Accelerator cohort

BongoHive has selected its latest cohort of Entrepreneurs in its Launch Accelerator, with founders from 9 Zambian startups.

The Launch accelerator is a 6 month programme (a 3 months startup program + 3 months additional business support) developed for startups looking to gain traction and scale up. Startups in the program share co-working space with other Launch startups, are matched with an industry mentor relevant to their startup, have access to one-on-one Legal Consultancy with Musa Dudhia & Co. and regularly work with an in-house Accounting and Finance Lead.

“Launch has supported 79 startups in 7 cohorts over the past 33 months. Alumni of this prestigious startup accelerator have gone on to raise over $800,000 in funding to date. There is immense opportunity in supporting the growth of the local ecosystem and the many startup founders that are solving problems via entrepreneurial efforts. Most recent accomplishments saw Launch Accelerator alumni such as, Safe Motherhood Alliance winning the regional finals in the FemBioBiz Acceleration Programme – with R50k out of 32 Finalists. eMsika won the SUN Business Network (SBN) Local Pitch Event, and will represent Zambia at the Nutrition Africa Investor Forum taking place in Nairobi, Kenya this October 2018. We are also very proud to be able to leverage on many local and international partners in making this a success so far,” said BongoHive Co-founder & Executive Director, Lukonga Lindunda.

The accelerator programme culminates with a demo night where our startups have the opportunity to share their accomplishments by presenting their companies to an audience, judges and investors from in and outside Lusaka.

The 8th Launch Accelerator cohort consists:

Startup	Founder	About the business
Payit Edu-Tech	Joseph Lubinda	PayItApp Limited is a technology company with interests in Agriculture, Education, Fintech, Trade, Hospitality and Real Estate.
Burger Queen	Stella Sata	Burger Queen is Zambia's fastest growing food truck business, serving the working class with flame grilled, fresh and healthy food at an affordable price.
Phat Media	Munalula Lukonga	Phat Media is Zambia’s first ‘woman focused’ Production and Talent Management Agency.
Dawa	Tafadzwa Kalisto Munzwa	Dawa inc is a company that was started by visionary youths with an idea to transform the health sector in Africa and globally at large.
Merci	Natasha Chibuye Maignant	Merci hair is a Virgin hair company that retails hair in Lusaka and other parts of Zambia.
Bantu Blends	Mwansa Kawesha	Manufacture and sell unique, healthy, affordable, African hair products.
Strutting Investment Limited Distribution	Shipo Kapala	Supplies packaged water that naturally contains the right proportion of minerals and other trace elements which give the body the right nutrients to promote general good health and overall well-being.
Daonari	Mario McLaughlin	Real estate, construction platform that allows organizations, or individuals to raise capital for innovative projects related to architecture, engineering, and construction fields.
M-Power Ventures AG	Jacob Anz	CleanTech Energy: Through a B2B partnership model, eMpower off-grid and under electrified households & SMEs in Sub-Saharan Africa by financing and providing affordable solar energy and related products.