2 African startups Join others from UK, Brazil, US to Participate in Google Launchpad Studio

Startups based in Ghana and Nigeria are part of the cohort of 10 selected from across the world to participate in the finance programme run by Google Launchpad Studio.

Launchpad Studio is an acceleration programme run by Google for the world’s top startups, which sees founders work closely with Google and Alphabet product teams and experts to solve specific technical challenges and optimise their businesses for growth with machine learning.

The other selected startups are based in the United States (US), Singapore, India, Indonesia, Brazil and the United Kingdom (UK). Each startup will be paired with a Google product manager to accelerate their product development, working alongside Google’s machine learning research and development teams.

For this cohort, 10 startups have been chosen with Ghanaian identity verification startup, Inclusive part of the cohort. The Germany-based Frontier Car Group, which is an investor in Nigerian used car marketplace Cars45, also makes the cut.

“These Studio startups have been invited from across nine countries and four continents to discuss how machine learning can be utilised for financial inclusion, stable currencies, and identification services,” said Rich Hyndman, Global Tech Lead at Google Launchpad.

According to Rich, these startups are defining how ML and blockchain can supercharge efforts to include everyone and ensure greater prosperity for all. Together, data and user behaviour are enabling a truly global economy with inclusive and differentiated products for banking, insurance, and credit.

Launchpad Studio provides one-on-one mentoring and access to Google’s people, network, thought leadership, and technology.