Afritech.xyz – GoDaddy customer (United Kingdom)
If you read our latest XYZ Quarterly, you know how useful expanding can be to your business or project’s success. One common way companies can expand their business is by creating new initiatives that help to reach their goals in a new way. This week’s #WebsiteWednesday is a perfect example of an organization that is aptly using a .xyz domain to do just that.
Started by influential UK-based social enterprise Do it Now Now, Afritech.xyz is a new program designed to connect early-stage tech startups in Africa to mentors and investors worldwide. The vision behind Afritech.xyz is to build a better future for Africa by helping to ensure that African entrepreneurs have the skills and tools necessary to build and develop their communities.
Do it Now Now and Afritech.xyz were founded by award-winning entrepreneur Bayo Adelaja. Bayo was recognized by Durham, Harvard, and Oxford University’s Business Schools for her work to create and foster opportunities for under-served communities through technology, and was named one of 2019’s most influential people of color in tech by The Financial Times. Bayo and her team created Afritech.xyz in order to solve the lack of accessibility Africans have to the rest of the world’s tech and investment ecosystems. By utilizing the expertise and networks of professionals in the UK and worldwide, Bayo and her team found a way to actively contribute to the development of tech enterprises in Africa.
In order to participate in Afritech.xyz, startups must meet certain criteria. The majority of their team must have graduated from universities in Africa, and the company needs to be based in Kenya, Ghana, Nigeria, South Africa, Zambia, or Uganda. Startups can either be in the process of raising funds for their first-version products (pre-seed) or be fully launched and in the seed funding round with £20k or less in grants. Either way, it is free to join and equity-free, thanks in part to Afritech.xyz’s partners.
In December 2019, Afritech.xyz announced its first UK-Africa virtual accelerator program, #AfriTech19. Out of the hundreds of applications, nineteen startups were selected to take part in the program and gain access to the key experts, tools, investors and legal support that are meant to help them navigate the next stages of their company’s development. The selected startups are working to solve critical problems that Africans face. Uganda-based startup Ecoplastile is working to transform waste plastics using a chemical-free plastic extrusion technology. Xpendly, hailing from Ghana, provides mobile platforms for young millennials to manage their finances with. Peersview in Nigeria is working to build a social network for students so that they can become a strong generation of African leaders.
Do it Now Now expertly expanded their organization’s impact by launching Afritech.xyz on their own domain and dedicated website. By choosing .xyz, they were able to secure the program’s brand name for the web address, making it especially easy to remember for their startups, mentors, and partners. The independent site is also able to clearly communicate all of Afritech.xyz’s program details, updates, and other valuable information to their audience.
Learn more about African tech on the Afritech.xyz blog or by signing up for their newsletter. You can also look into becoming one of their mentors if you would like to lend your business expertise.
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