Praxis has launched its first Africa Accelerator cohort, bringing together 12 early stage founders who are building businesses that address some of the continent’s most urgent challenges. Through its flagship nine month mentorship driven and non residential program, Praxis will support these leaders as they strengthen their ventures and expand their impact.
The initiative is designed to help entrepreneurs grow as leaders while guiding their companies to become more effective and more impactful. Fellows connect with mentors and Praxis team members through in person gatherings and virtual coaching sessions. In addition to mentorship, the Accelerator Capital Partners, a community of investors and philanthropists, are providing US$50,000 in capital to each venture to help advance their work.
The selected founders are working in areas such as healthcare, financial inclusion, job creation, sustainable agriculture, child development and education. Many are building in communities affected by poverty, violence and trauma. Praxis says the goal is to support redemptive work that strengthens systems and restores dignity across Africa.
Strengthening Food Systems, Healthcare and Education
The cohort includes AkoFresh, led by Fellow Mathias Charles Yabe. The Ghana based company is building a climate resilient food system through solar powered cold chain solutions. By providing mobile cooling tricycles, solar cold rooms and farmer training, AkoFresh helps smallholder farmers reduce post harvest losses and access fair markets. The company has supported more than 3,000 farmers, reduced food waste by over 1,200 tons of CO2 equivalent emissions and saved more than 950 tons of perishable crops. Its work also creates economic opportunities for women, youth and rural producers.
In the mental health space, Bluemind Foundation, Fellow Marie Alix De Putter, is integrating care into everyday spaces. Through its Heal by Hair program, the nonprofit trains hairdressers to detect emotional distress, offer compassionate listening and connect women to professional care. Nearly 1,000 hairdressers have been trained and more than 300,000 women reached across Africa. The organization focuses on making mental health support accessible and culturally relevant in places where professionals are limited.
era92 Group, led by Fellow Emmanuel Trinity, is changing the future of young people in African slums. Through a training academy, a global talent placement agency and a venture firm, the company trains youth in digital skills, connects them to dignified global jobs and finances their businesses. So far, era92 Group has trained over 7,000 young people, placed more than 4,200 into jobs and funded dozens of youth led ventures. The long term goal is to create 100,000 skilled jobs in slum communities.
In Malawi, Fount for Nations, Fellow Patience Mkandawire, is strengthening early childhood development. The organization embeds developmental monitoring into under five clinics, equips health workers and supports families with early intervention. It has completed more than 9,500 developmental assessments, enabled nearly 200 referrals and provides therapy and family support to 160 children each month. Its Child Development and Wellness Center serves as a hub for multidisciplinary care and national scale models.
In Nigeria, Keep Educating Yourself Academy, led by Fellow Damilola Okonkwo, is rethinking practical education. Through its model school and digital teacher training platform ImpactEducators, the social enterprise equips teachers with project based and future ready methods. The platform offers assessed modules and certification and has onboarded hundreds of educators, working toward system wide reform that could impact millions of children.
Healthcare innovation is also represented by Medpharma Alliance International Limited, founded by Fellow Yaw Asamoah. The Ghana based platform connects patients to e consultation, e prescription, medicine delivery, diagnostics and medical record storage through mobile, web and chatbot services. Medpharma has delivered over 3 million units of medication, recorded more than 500,000 customer touchpoints and completed over 100,000 e consultations. It serves more than 80 percent of private health insurance companies in Ghana.
PBR Life Sciences, Fellows Ayodeji Alaran and Adeoye Sobande, is transforming health data access across Africa and emerging markets. The company aggregates anonymized real world data from pharmacies, hospitals and insurers to provide analytics and research insights to pharmaceutical firms and policymakers. Its data platforms improve visibility into patient journeys, medicine use and outcomes, enabling evidence based decisions.
Expanding Capital Access and Building Inclusive Economies
Access to finance and infrastructure is another strong focus of the cohort. Nsimbi Impact, founded by Fellow Barbara Mutabazi, invests in women owned micro, small and medium enterprises through flexible unsecured financing and AI powered credit scoring suited for informal markets. By working with local partners and alternative data, Nsimbi identifies women excluded from traditional finance. The model aims to reduce poverty, lower vulnerability to domestic violence and increase girls’ education through improved incomes, with a long term vision of building a digital financial institution owned by the women it serves.
Policy Innovation Lab Africa, led by Fellow Carolyn Kandusi, works at the systems level. The organization champions the Social Public Partnership Framework, which helps governments identify and scale proven social innovations. By partnering with planning commissions, ministries and social enterprises, it converts fragmented innovations into policy anchored and sustainably financed national programs.
In digital payments, TapReady, founded by Fellow Gideon Mojolaoluwa, is building mobile native payment infrastructure for emerging markets. Its technology turns any phone into a contactless wallet or point of sale device, allowing users to tap and pay using bank accounts, mobile money or digital assets. With deployments across Africa and the Caribbean, TapReady partners with banks and governments to modernize payment systems.
WeLend, led by Fellows Peter Ramzy and Hossam Nabil, is addressing the US$250 billion SME financing gap across the Middle East and North Africa. By combining technology, alternative data and partnerships with financial institutions, WeLend aims to unlock growth for small businesses and support the creation of 25 million jobs in the coming decade.
Finally, Winich Farms, founded by Fellow Riches Attai, is building inclusive agri-commerce infrastructure for smallholder farmers. Through aggregation centers, a mobile app for buyers, USSD tools and a farmer focused debit card, Winich connects farmers to reliable markets, fair prices, fast payments and credit access.
About Praxis
Praxis is a venture building ecosystem supporting founders and funders motivated by faith to address major global issues. With this first Africa Accelerator cohort, the organization is placing capital, mentorship and long term backing behind leaders who are building practical solutions in food, health, finance and education. If successful, the combined effect of these ventures could strengthen systems, create jobs and expand opportunity for millions across Africa and beyond.
