Nigeria’s technology ecosystem has recorded a significant milestone as four homegrown startups; Bani, MasteryHive AI, Regxta, and Termi, earned places in the 10th cohort of the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa, underscoring the country’s growing dominance in the continent’s innovation landscape.
Chosen from an exceptionally competitive pool of nearly 2,600 applications, the innovators are part of a final pan-African group of 15 companies. With an acceptance rate of less than 1 percent, their selection highlights the immense technical talent and resilience emerging from Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.”
The selected firms are deploying artificial intelligence to tackle persistent structural inefficiencies across Africa’s key sectors, particularly financial services and digital infrastructure.
Bani is building cross-border payments infrastructure aimed at eliminating settlement delays for African businesses engaged in global trade. MasteryHive AI is focused on automating transaction reconciliation, fraud detection, and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance. Regxta is addressing financial exclusion through alternative data-driven credit scoring combined with a hybrid digital-agent distribution model targeting unbanked micro businesses. Termii is strengthening communications infrastructure by ensuring reliability in financial messaging systems used by banks and fintech firms.
Their emergence reflects a broader continental shift, where founders are increasingly leveraging advanced AI to solve foundational challenges spanning financial inclusion, healthcare delivery, and supply chain optimisation. This evolution comes as Africa’s venture capital ecosystem showcased resilience, attracting $3.9 billion in funding in 2025 despite a tighter global investment climate.
Yet, industry analysts note that capital alone is insufficient to scale deep-tech ventures. Founders require access to advanced cloud infrastructure, specialized technical expertise, and global market linkages.
Gbolade Emmanuel, CEO of Nigeria-based Termii, highlighted the strategic value of the programme: “At Termii, we’re building AI-powered infrastructure that ensures financial transactions don’t fail, from login PINs to payment OTPs and fraud alerts. The Google Startup Accelerator is helping us accelerate our AI roadmap and scale globally, and even in the first week, access to technical support and insights has been incredibly valuable for our next phase of growth,” he stated.
Programme organisers also emphasised the broader economic implications of supporting such ventures.
“We are absolutely thrilled to welcome these exceptional founders into Class 10. African startups are driving essential economic growth and social development. Our role is to serve as a supportive partner, providing these developers and founders with the technical infrastructure, mentorship, and global network they need to scale their solutions and amplify their real-world impact,” said Folarin Aiyegbusi, head of Startup Ecosystem, Africa.
The hybrid accelerator, scheduled to run from April 13 to June 19, 2026, will offer participating startups intensive mentorship from industry experts alongside hands-on technical workshops focused on artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Since its inception in 2018, the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa has supported 106 startups across 17 countries. These companies have collectively raised more than $263 million and generated over 2,800 jobs, reinforcing the programme’s role as a critical pipeline for scaling high-impact African technology ventures.
