The new age of artificial intelligence offers challenges for African nations facing an ever-expanding and demanding young workforce.
Yet it also offers opportunities for startups to embrace new technologies and avoid the traditional industry hurdles that have held back their potential.
Bloomberg is looking for those entrepreneurs, innovative thinkers and barrier breakers for the second edition of the Africa Startups to Watch list. The project seeks to showcase the smartest ideas and founders from all over the continent.
The inaugural series of 25 firms revealed a wealth of solutions ready and focused on tackling regional problems—from refrigerators that operate without electricity to a device to test soil quality and a power-saving robot.
More than 2,000 applications received ranged from health care to translation, transportation to banking services. Check out the shortlist here.
Bloomberg believes that diversity—of founders, workers, locations, backgrounds, ideas—produces the coolest companies, and we hope the final product will reflect that.
Startups should be founded to solve Africa’s challenges, have a unique idea that’s won over investors and customers, and be privately held.
The vetting team will ask startups to show how their product is working and to explain about external funding. The companies will be unveiled in the first quarter of 2026 and will be profiled on Bloomberg TV and other platforms.
Bloomberg looks for enough qualitative information and detail to get a good sense of each business model, customer demand and why the product is unique.
To apply click here.
Deadline for applications is January 23, 2026.
