Flapmax has announced the company is joining forces with Microsoft to help strengthen and scale Africa’s digital ecosystem with the launch of FAST, a start-up accelerator. FAST is designed to help start-ups that are building cloud technology and Artificial Intelligence (AI) enabled products and services supporting Africa’s communities, governments and companies.
“At Flapmax, our mission is to enrich the lives of everyone on the planet and make the world more sustainable, using accelerated AI technology,” said Dave Ojika, Founder and CEO, Flapmax. “We are proud to partner with Microsoft to make that dream a reality for start-up founders committed to strengthening the digital ecosystem in Africa. Together, we can build an AI-enabled future that serves everyone, everywhere – improving industries from healthcare and education to agriculture and government services.”
Created by Flapmax in partnership with Microsoft, the FAST programme combines business development, technology integration, funding and community building opportunities designed to enable African start-ups to scale more rapidly and sustainably.
Programme participants will work with Microsoft engineering team members on co-innovation projects ranging from product integrations to new offerings. Members of the Flapmax engineering team will help start-ups apply new technology solutions, including measure, coral imaging and fast portal. Participants will benefit from additional perks, including up to US$250,000 in Microsoft Azure cloud credits, access to Founders Hub, Dynamics 365 and Microsoft 365 (including Teams).
“Africa is poised to become the next international technology hub,” said Gerald Maithya, SME and Start-ups Lead: Africa Transformation Office at Microsoft. “We are excited to partner with Flapmax in our mission of empowering every person and every organisation on the planet to achieve more. The FAST programme will provide direct investment in the technology leaders of tomorrow in the region, helping build key infrastructure that uses Artificial Intelligence as the basis for solutions development.”
FAST is a technology accelerator committed to expanding opportunities for technology innovation and implementation worldwide. Its partner-centric approach encourages collaboration across borders and helps companies upskill teams, find customers, hire talent and raise funds.
Flapmax is committed to creating partnerships that help ignite technology growth across Africa, strengthen local economies and grow the local tech industry. The Flapmax AI Academy offers training and apprenticeships in AI and cloud computing, cutting-edge research opportunities and ways to collaborate with industry leaders. Working with universities around the world, Flapmax is helping connect the next generation of innovators with sustainable technology goals and cutting-edge career skills.