Meta Awards $200,000 to 12 African AI Startups

Meta has announced the 12 winners of its Llama Impact Accelerator 2025, granting a combined $200,000 to startups from Kenya, Nigeria, Senegal, and South Africa developing transformative AI-powered solutions. The program, which attracted over 1,400 applications, aims to empower African innovators using Meta’s open-source Llama large language model to solve critical challenges across healthcare, education, agriculture, and public services.

The six-week accelerator program culminated in Demo Day events across the four countries, where three winners were selected from each. First-place startups received $25,000, second-place startups $15,000, and third-place startups $10,000.

Meta’s Director for Public Policy in Sub-Saharan Africa, Balkissa Ide Siddo, praised the winners and emphasized the program’s regional collaboration. “The Meta Llama Impact Accelerator 2025 has been instrumental in fostering a new wave of AI innovation across Sub-Saharan Africa,” she said. “We are incredibly proud of the solutions developed by these startups, which demonstrate the immense potential of AI to address critical challenges in healthcare, education, agriculture, and public safety.”

The Winning Startups

Nigeria

• MARMAR ($25,000) – A health-tech platform using AI to build error-free electronic medical records and medication management systems.

• Purple Labs ($15,000) – Developers of “MediSync,” an AI-powered diagnostic tool to improve patient care and outcomes.

• DAWN AI Study ($10,000) – An ed-tech solution offering AI-driven early assessment and emotional-cognitive support in classrooms.

Kenya

• DPE ($25,000) – A public health startup enhancing community health messaging through localized AI-driven campaigns.

• Esheria Ventures ($15,000) – Creators of Kenya’s first multilingual “digital paralegal” platform for affordable legal support.

• Neural Labs Africa ($10,000) – An AI-powered teleradiology platform designed to bridge diagnostic gaps in healthcare.

Senegal

• Kajou ($25,000) – Provides offline, AI-powered learning modules for community health workers through its kSANTÉ platform.

• SamaCoach ($15,000) – A wellness platform delivering AI-personalized fitness and health coaching programs.

• LOOKA Research ($10,000) – A data intelligence platform using AI to address Africa’s business and market information gaps.

South Africa

• eFama ($25,000) – An agri-tech marketplace connecting smallholder farmers with buyers using AI-driven pricing and logistics tools.

• CatalyzU ($15,000) – Uses AI to match workforce skills and corporate training programs with company objectives.

• Four Minute Medicine ($10,000) – A healthcare training platform leveraging microlearning and AI simulations to reduce medical errors.

Beyond the Awards

The four four-place winners — MARMAR, DPE, Kajou, and eFama — will represent Africa at the AI Summit 2025 in Dubai, where they’ll compete for an additional $100,000 regional prize pool.

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Meta will also continue supporting all 40 participating startups with six months of business advisory, technical mentorship, and access to Meta’s AI ecosystem, ensuring they can scale their innovations beyond the accelerator.

The program was run in partnership with national innovation bodies, including Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), reflecting Meta’s growing investment in Africa’s digital and AI ecosystem.

By making its Llama models open-source, Meta is helping democratize AI access and empowering African entrepreneurs to develop locally relevant technologies. The Llama Impact Accelerator represents more than just funding — it’s a statement that Africa’s next big wave of innovation will be driven by AI built for Africans, by Africans.