Two South African startups have been selected for Google's 10th cohort of Startup Accelerator Africa, making them among 15 companies selected from approximately 2,600 applications across the continent.
The selected companies, Loop and Vambo AI, are using artificial intelligence to solve local and regional challenges ranging from transportation and payments to language access in digital systems.
Loop focuses on digitalizing mobility and payments, aiming to simplify people and businesses' access to transportation and financial services. Wambo AI is building multilingual AI infrastructure to support translation, speech and generative AI in African languages, a region that is under-represented in global AI systems.
The group reflects broader momentum in Africa's tech sector, where startups continue to tackle structural challenges in areas such as financial inclusion, healthcare and supply chain. While the continent's enterprise ecosystem will raise an estimated $3.9 billion by 2025, scaling deep-tech solutions still depends on access to infrastructure, cloud capabilities, and technical expertise.
According to Folarin Aiyegbusi, the program is designed to provide that assistance. “African startups are driving essential economic growth and social development. Our role is to provide the technical infrastructure, mentorship and global network needed to scale their solutions,” he said.
The hybrid program runs from April to June 2026 and includes mentorship, technical workshops and access to industry experts with a focus on AI and machine learning.
Since launching in 2018, the accelerator has supported more than 100 startups in 17 African countries, helping them raise more than $263 million and create more than 2,800 jobs.