Efiwe has been selected for Cohort 1 of the timbuktoo Launchpad, the United Nations Development Programme’s (UNDP) continent-wide incubation programme for African startups. Efiwe was chosen from around 2,000 applications from across Africa.
The timbuktoo Launchpad was formerly known as the Pan-African Incubation Network. Cohort 1 is the first group of startups to go through the programme under its new name.
timbuktoo is UNDP’s initiative to back African innovators building solutions for the continent. The Launchpad is its incubation arm, connecting selected startups with Entrepreneur Support Organisations (ESOs) across Africa. Efiwe will be incubated by Africa Fintech Foundry. Over the course of the programme, the Foundry team will work alongside us with coaching, practical tools, and access to the wider timbuktoo network of partners, investors, and fellow founders.
Efiwe was built on one belief: talent is everywhere, but opportunity is not. Most coding education assumes a laptop, fast and affordable internet, and fluency in English. Efiwe removes those assumptions. It teaches coding on any smartphone, works fully offline once loaded, and is available in 246 languages plus sign language, with the core platform free for everyone. That mission is about Africa first. timbuktoo’s focus on African startups building for African realities makes it a natural home for the next stage of our growth.
This joins a run of recent recognition, including selection for the Mastercard Foundation EdTech Fellowship, TechCrunch Startup Battlefield 200, Google for Startups Immersion EMEA, and NVIDIA Inception.
We will use the incubation to sharpen how Efiwe reaches more schools, NGOs, and partners across the continent, and to strengthen the recurring revenue behind Efiwe Pro and Group Plans.
Thank you to UNDP, the timbuktoo team, and Africa Fintech Foundry for this opportunity. And thank you to every learner, teacher, and partner who has helped Efiwe get here. We will share what we learn along the way.
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