Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), the non-profit arm of San Francisco-based Meltwater Group has announced plans to expand its startup hub model beyond Accra, Ghana. It expects to establish a similar ecosystem in Lagos and Nairobi this summer, while incubators are set to open next year in two major South African cities – Cape Town and Johannesburg.
MEST is raising $50 million via MEST Venture Partners, its first venture capital fund. According to MEST managing director, Katie Sarro, “while we currently make seed round investments at the MEST Incubator, MEST Venture Partners will make check sizes closer $1 million to $2 million”. The incubator pulls resources to provide training and early stage investment to assist the most promising African entrepreneurs grow their business. The burgeoning startup scene in Africa, in part, stem from a ‘necessity’ to solve some of the continents intricate problems in sectors such as health and education. MEST joins existing startup hubs such as CCHub in Lagos, and Nairobi Garage in Nairobi.
Read more at qz.com

Read more at qz.com