Mozambique’s Appload among 20 startups selected for Norrsken Impact Accelerator

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Mozambique’s Appload among 20 startups selected for Norrsken Impact Accelerator

3:18 CAT | 10 Jun 2022

File photo: Norrsken

Mozambican digital transport platform Appload is among 20 startups from around the world which have been selected to take part in the second edition of the Norrsken Impact Accelerator, which is designed to find the world’s most promising impact startups, and help them scale.

“The funds invested are not only relevant for our growth but a validation of appload’s journey this far. Norrsken’s support goes beyond financial support, as we’ll be connected to a pool of high profile mentors and a network of investors, not to mention other successful startups from various geographies. This is a complete game changer for us,” said Claire Hassoun, co-founder and CEO of appload.

“After 10 years of an entrepreneurial journey, constantly pushing for the local startups, it is extremely gratifying to have appload being the first Mozambican startup to attract international VC funds, it’ll surely open doors to many more entrepreneurs,” said Frederico P. Silva , co-founder of appload.

Altogether, 20 startups from countries around the world, including Sweden, Norway, UK Mexico, Slovakia and the United States of America have been chosen for the Norrsken Impact Accelerator, and nine of these are African – including Mozambique’s appload.

We’re so excited to welcome 20 of the world’s most promising impact startups to the Norrsken Impact Accelerator 2022. 🚀

Give it up for the Batch of 2022!#norrskenimpactaccelerator pic.twitter.com/XOyf7qVAdh

— Norrsken (@norrsken_org) June 7, 2022

The other African startups include Clafiya, a Nigerian digital primary health startup; Emata, a Ugandan lending platform; Umoja labs, a Tanzanian payment solution; Motito, a Rwandan artisan recruitment service Fixa, a Ghanaian BNPL platform; HealthDart, a South African health network, Power Financial Wellness, a Kenyan savings and investment service, and SunFi, a Nigerian clean energy startup.

Appload’s digital linking platform allows data collection and real-time sharing, secure payment, and a system of trip monitoring and customer reviews. This allows supply and demand to meet efficiently, thus optimizing trucks and shipping goods in time, while building trust within the market. In particular, this allows Appload to help fill empty trucks on return trips, at a discounted rate for customers that especially need it

On Tuesday (July 7( Norrsken announced the twenty companies that will participate in its 2022 Norrsken Impact Accelerator, an accelerator programme designed to find the world’s most promising early-stage impact startups and help them scale.

All of the participating companies were selected via an open application process, and have been evaluated against the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals, and ranked based on the magnitude and depth of their potential impact. Unintended and potentially harmful side-effects of success have also been taken into consideration. Only companies that can successfully demonstrate that impact is an integral part of their business model have been admitted for entry into the programme.

The 2022 batch was selected by an expert team that includes Norrsken Foundation CEO Erik Engellau Nilsson, Capital T founding partner Janneke Niessen, Lazada co-founder Christopher Brinkeborn Beselin, Kry co-founder Fredrik Jung-Abbou, Brilliant Minds co-founder Ash Pournouri and Walerud Ventures founder Jane Walerud. The Norrsken Impact Accelerator is also supported by the Norrsken VC and Africa investment teams.

Beyond acceptance to the programme itself, including an 8-week growth sprint at Norrsken House in Stockholm and mentorship from a roster of over 110 entrepreneurs, investors and unicorn founders, with all startups set to receive $125,000 upfront pre-seed or seed investment from the Norrsken Foundation.

“This is a big day for Norrsken. Our Accelerator brings together over one hundred extraordinary individuals who channel their knowledge, experience and network to pave the way for early-stage, up-and-coming impact tech startups. We only want to work with companies that are solving real, urgent and important problems – problems that matter. We believe that all of the companies in our 2022 cohort
are doing exactly this, and we’re so excited to be part of their growth journeys from here!”, said Funda Sezgi, Norrsken Impact Accelerator managing director and co-founder.

Norsken was founded by Niklas Adalberth, one of the founders of Swedish fintech unicorn Klarna, in 2016. It aims to help entrepreneurs solve the world’s greatest challenges. Its ecosystem consists of Norrsken House, a co-working space for over 350 impact entrepreneurs in Stockholm, the Norrsken Founders Fund, and Norrsken VC.

Disrupt Africa reported in 2019 the foundation had launched operations in Kigali, Rwanda, which it said it planned to use as a base for investing across the East and Central African region, and last year it accepted 11 startups from Africa into the inaugural edition of the Norrsken Impact Accelerator.

It has now picked 20 startups to take part in the 2022 edition, with those companies hailing from 15 countries and offering solutions ranging from mental health, poverty alleviation, sustainable agriculture, financial inclusion and green energy.

Nine of those companies are based in Africa, with the rest hailing from countries like Sweden, the United States (US) and the United Kingdom (UK). Two are Nigerian, namely digital primary healthcare service Clafiya and clean-tech startup SunFi, while the rest are Mozambican digital transport platform Appload, Ugandan lending service Emata, Tanzanian payment solution Umoja Labs, Rwandan artisan recruitment service Fixa, Ghanaian BNPL platform Motito, South African health network HealthDart, and Kenyan savings and investment service Power Financial Wellness.

All of the participating companies were selected via an open application process, and have been evaluated against the 17 UN Sustainable Development Goals and ranked based on the magnitude and depth of their potential impact. Only companies that can successfully demonstrate that impact is an integral part of their business model have been admitted for entry into the programme.

Beyond acceptance to the programme itself, including an 8-week growth sprint at Norrsken House in Stockholm and mentorship from a roster of over 110 entrepreneurs, investors and unicorn founders, all startups will receive US$125,000 in upfront pre-seed or seed investment from the Norrsken Foundation.

“This is a big day for Norrsken. Our accelerator brings together over one hundred extraordinary individuals who channel their knowledge, experience and network to pave the way for early-stage, up-and-coming impact tech startups. We only want to work with companies that are solving real, urgent and important problems – problems that matter. We believe that all of the companies in our 2022 cohort are doing exactly this, and we’re so excited to be part of their growth journeys from here!”, said Funda Sezgi, Norrsken Impact Accelerator managing director and co-founder.

Since being accepted into the 2021 programme, the 20 participating companies, sourced from over 2,300 applications worldwide, have raised more than US$24 million in seed or pre-seed funding from investors like Brilliant Minds co-founder Ash Pournori, Kry co-founder Fredrik Jung-Abbou, Pär Norberg of Nordic Capital, Capital T, Globivest and Norrsken Foundation.

Source: Appload / Norrsken