Two South African technology startups—Loop and Vambo AI—have been selected to join Google's 10th cohort for Startup Accelerator Africa. Selected from an exceptionally competitive pool of approximately 2,600 applications, these innovators are part of the final Pan-African group of 15 companies. With an acceptance rate of less than 1%, their selection highlights the immense tech talent and resilience emerging from the digital ecosystem of the (country).
Selected South African startups are using Artificial Intelligence to tackle critical local and regional challenges:
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Horoscope: Digitalizes mobility and payments in Africa, helping people, businesses and communities access simpler, more connected transportation and payment solutions.
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Vambo AI: Builds multilingual AI infrastructure that powers translation, speech, and generative AI in African languages.
African tech founders are actively solving infrastructure challenges, bridging the gap in financial inclusion, healthcare and supply chain with complex AI. The continent's venture ecosystem showed remarkable resilience, garnering $3.9 billion by 2025. However, supplementing this capital to scale deeper technology solutions requires specialized technology infrastructure, advanced cloud capabilities, and strategic consulting. Accelerator programs provide these exact tools, ensuring that local innovations can continue to grow into the businesses that power the continent's digital economy.
Imtiaz Riley, CEO of Loop, says: “African languages remain grossly under-represented in today's AI systems, limiting access to digital tools and opportunities for millions of people. At Vambo AI, we are building multilingual AI infrastructure to change this – enabling developers, enterprises, and institutions to build for African markets in daily spoken local languages. Becoming part of the Google for Startups Accelerator is a powerful milestone for our team. We are excited about the program. We are excited to grow our technology and impact with the support and expertise provided through Medium.
“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome these extraordinary founders to Class 10,” said Folarin Ayegbushi, Head of Startup Ecosystem, Africa. “African startups are driving essential economic growth and social development. Our role is to serve as a supportive partner, providing these developers and founders with the technical infrastructure, mentorship and global network they need to scale their solutions and increase their impact on the real world.”
Running from April 13 to June 19, 2026, the hybrid program will provide 15 startups with dedicated guidance from experienced mentors and industry experts, as well as technical workshops focused on AI and machine learning.
Since launching in 2018, the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa program has supported 106 startups from 17 African countries, empowering them to collectively raise more than $263 million and create more than 2,800 jobs.
For more information on the full list of 15 startups participating in Class 10, please visit Google Africa blog