The Harvard Innovation Labs and Amazon Web Services (AWS) have selected 11 African student-owned startups out of 25 for their inaugural NextGen Accelerator program. The program, a two-week founder boot camp, is aimed at early-stage student entrepreneurs from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) and universities in Sub-Saharan Africa. Participants attend daily courses at the Harvard Innovation Labs on various topics such as consumer research, market validation, pitching, fundraising, and leadership skills.

The selected startups cover a diverse range of industries and countries:

Ghana:

1. FeatheryCare - An agritech startup from the University of Ghana.

2. Sabon Sake - A producer of organic soil boosters from Ashesi University.

3. Hurupay - A mobile wallet from Ashesi University.

4. LbH LC - A farmer financing solution from the University of Ghana.

Kenya:

5. Parksby - A parking app from the University of Nairobi.

6. AfyaBridge - An e-health business.

7. Tawi Digital Health - A health-tech company from the University of Nairobi.

Rwanda:

8. HiQ Africa - A Rwandan logistics startup from African Leadership University.

South Africa:

9. Puno - A South African fintech company from the University of the Witwatersrand.

Tanzania:

10. Smartdarasa - A Tanzanian augmented reality startup from the University of Dar es Salaam.

Nigeria:

11. Acceede - A Nigerian payments platform from the Federal University of Technology.

The Schultz Family Foundation has provided funds to support the participating ventures with lodging, food, and travel expenses. AWS will offer NextGen Accelerator participants access to AWS professionals and $5,000 in AWS credits as part of their commitment to boosting underrepresented entrepreneurs in the startup ecosystem.