The first edition of H.E.R.O. (Harmonic Euro-African Ramp-up Orbit) has selected four start-ups from East Africa: a total of 324 applications were received.
The winners are the Kenyan companies Silo Africa Networks and Chumz, and the Ugandan firms BuriCare and TEGU Systems, selected following a Demo Day held at the residence of the Italian Ambassador to Nairobi, Vincenzo Del Monaco, who recognised the initiative’s strategic value, particularly within the context of the Mattei Plan for Africa.
The H.E.R.O. programme was launched as part of the Startup Africa Roadtrip; it is promoted by Harmonic Innovation Group and organised by the non-profit organisation BeEntrepreneurs APS. The aim is to provide the many innovative ideas across the African continent with access to capital, international networks and foreign markets.
The winners
The winning start-ups will take centre stage in November at the Italian Roadshow, designed to strengthen their links with the European innovation ecosystem, with stops in Catanzaro, Rome and Milan.
Here is a detailed look at what each of them does.
Silo Africa Networks (Agritech): provides smart, airtight silos fitted with IoT sensors that monitor temperature, humidity and CO₂ levels to protect stored grain, enabling farmers to store cereals safely without the use of chemicals. The result is a significant reduction in post-harvest losses and easier access to lucrative markets.
BuriCare (Healthtech): a social enterprise that develops ergonomic ‘Kangaroo Mother Care’ baby carriers fitted with sensors for real-time monitoring of heart rate, temperature and oxygen levels. The solution was designed to improve the survival rates of premature babies in low-resource settings, where access to incubators remains limited.
Chumz (Fintech): a savings and investment platform that utilises mobile money, gamification and behavioural psychology to help people build more robust savings habits. It is designed primarily for those with limited access to traditional financial services, offering the opportunity to start saving and investing even with small amounts.
TEGU Systems (Regtech) | Special Mention: Through its Verify Sentinel platform, it offers a B2B infrastructure for identity verification, risk assessment and last-mile verification, automating the verification of geographical location and residence. The solution enables banks, insurance companies, fintech firms and logistics operators to reliably verify a person’s location and whether they actually reside in a specific place, even in contexts where traditional personal data is incomplete or unreliable.
“With H.E.R.O., we do not aim to export an innovation model to Africa, but to create the conditions for the entrepreneurial talent that already exists to grow and compete on an international scale,” emphasises Paolo Satta, Chief Operating Officer of Harmonic Innovation Xcelerator, the incubator and accelerator of the Harmonic Innovation Group.
This approach is consistent with the principles of Harmonic Innovation that we pursue, as defined by our founding president Francesco Cicione, which focuses on the creation of shared value between regions, businesses and people. Kenya represents the first step in a long-term strategy through which we intend to build stable relationships between African and European innovation ecosystems, fostering the growth of new businesses and new opportunities for both continents.”
“Returning to Nairobi and re-establishing ties with the Kenyan ecosystem was an incredibly valuable experience,” adds Susanna Ercolani, H.E.R.O. programme lead and board member at BeEntrepreneurs. In one week at HackHouse, we condensed what we have believed in for almost ten years: a five-day bootcamp, seven workshops, 24 hours of one-to-one mentoring and two fireside chats with founders and investors, during which the start-ups turned their hard work into tangible progress. But the real outcome lies in the connections made: the more than 70 people brought together by Hello Tractor and the over 150 who attended Demo Day at the Ambassador’s Residence demonstrate the involvement of an entire ecosystem. The most significant aspect was observing the growth of the founders and the ease with which they learnt to support one another: we are confident that the roadshow in Italy will reinforce this impact.”
