Botswana Tech Fund has announced the seven startups for its first accelerator cohort. The cohort comprises three startups from Botswana and one each from Namibia, Zambia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.
The Botswana Tech Fund will invest up to £100,000 in selected startups through a three-month accelerator programme targeting early-stage B2B technology companies in Botswana and the wider Southern African region.
The accelerator will back startups every six months, with companies receiving an initial £25,000 when they enter the programme and a further £75,000 upon completing the programme and meeting agreed performance targets.
The fund is targeting approximately 10% ownership in companies at the accelerator stage.
According to General Partner Florence Bavanandan, the programme will focus on very early-stage, tech-first B2B startups, particularly those with the potential to scale beyond their home markets. Startups from Botswana and neighbouring countries, including Namibia, Zambia and Zimbabwe, will be eligible.
The accelerator will operate as a hybrid programme. It will begin with three days of in-person sessions in Gaborone, followed by five remote sessions before participants return to Gaborone for a final three days and a demo day.
The following are the selected startups:
Areye Technologies (Botswana): Areye combines ride-hailing and local deliveries on one platform. Customers can book rides or send parcels, while drivers can earn from both passenger trips and deliveries. The company started in Botswana and focuses on transport and delivery services in Southern African cities.
Areye Storefront allows businesses such as restaurants, pharmacies and hardware stores to sell to customers and arrange deliveries through the platform. Areye Business provides organisations with staff transport and company delivery services.
The platform has passed 10,000 app downloads, 6,000 registered users and 800 drivers, with businesses already using Storefront. Ride and delivery commissions sit alongside merchant subscriptions, giving Areye several revenue streams from the same network.
Early traction with restaurants in Waterfall City and Midrand provides a starting point for growth in South Africa. Lesotho and Eswatini are also among the company’s planned next markets, extending the reach of a business first developed in Botswana.
Botsogo Jwame (Botswana): Botsogo Jwame is a digital health platform used by healthcare providers to manage patient records, consultations, appointments, e-prescriptions, billing and medical-aid claims.
Participating healthcare providers can access patient records, making medical histories available when patients receive care at different facilities. Patients can also access their health information through an online portal.
The platform is already being used in more than 20 healthcare facilities in Botswana. It has registered over 25,000 patients and captured more than 100,000 consultations over the past 12 months, giving the business an established base of provider activity.
Ipachi Capital (Botswana): Ipachi provides tools for informal and small businesses to record sales, track expenses and stock, and keep records of customer credit. Its users include spaza shops, street vendors, kiosks and market traders.
Through Ipachi Portal, business owners can record their daily transactions and monitor their income, costs, stock and outstanding customer balances. The information also creates a record of the business's financial activity that can be used when applying for financing or engaging with business-support organisations.
Slash (Botswana): Slash is an app where retailers, restaurants and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) brands can list discounts and clearance offers. Shoppers can use the app to find promotions from nearby businesses.
Businesses can publish offers, track their performance and see how customers respond. The platform also allows distributors to list surplus and near-expiry stock for sale.
With around 55,000 downloads and more than 3,400 active users, Slash has attracted shoppers, major retailers, and FMCG distributors in Botswana. Distributors in Namibia have also expressed interest, giving the team a potential next market with similar retail conditions.
Koloso (Zambia): Koloso is a teaching platform for primary and secondary schools that supports lesson planning, delivery and assessment. Teachers can use the assessment results to identify areas where individual pupils need additional support.
The platform works with existing curricula without prescribing a particular teaching method. Schools can use it alongside their existing teaching approaches, with learning data helping teachers assess outcomes and plan subsequent lessons.
Koloso has about 6,000 active users and is already selling outside Zambia. The company has active sales in Nigeria, an NGO partnership in South Africa, and an early sales presence in Uganda and Rwanda. Its full Teaching Support System, K2, launched in August 2026, and the team is building its sales pipeline.
Moovha (Zimbabwe): Moovha is a digital wallet that allows users to hold US dollars and South African rand through WhatsApp. Users can deposit cash or USDC, convert between the two currencies, send money locally and withdraw funds.
The service targets users who move between cash and digital financial services, including migrants, cross-border traders, and gig workers. It connects cash, e-wallets, stablecoins and mobile money, and works with partners on cash-deposit and wallet-payout services between South Africa and Zimbabwe.
The company has secured a licensed Zimbabwean partner with nationwide distribution for US dollar cash deposits, as well as Zimbabwe’s largest mobile money provider for wallet payouts. These relationships are important to its plans for the South Africa–Zimbabwe corridor.
PatientCare (Namibia): PatientCare allows individuals and families to set aside money for healthcare through a Health Account. Users purchase Health Units, which they can use to pay for consultations and other eligible healthcare services. The units do not expire.
Employers can also contribute towards employees’ healthcare and wellness through the platform. Employers receive programme reports, while employees’ medical information remains private.
For healthcare providers, PatientCare offers tools for bookings, patient records, prescriptions and payments. The platform is available through iOS, Android and the web.
As at September 2026, PatientCare had more than 1,600 patient accounts, over 220 consultation bookings and a growing network of clinics, pharmacies and independent practitioners. Early sign-ups from South Africa and Angola indicate interest beyond Namibia. Patients from both countries already travel to Namibia for care, giving the company a potential route for regional growth.
Info source: Botswana Tech Fund