Pivot East 2015 crowns 5 best mobile startups in East Africa

Going on its fifth year, regional pitching competition and conference Pivot East 2015 has revealed the top mobile startups of East Africa this week.

Ranging from mobile categories in entertainment to enterprise, four of the winning companies hail from Kenya and one from Rwanda.

Apart from the recognition, the five winners will receive a 12 months free service of up to 10 000 Kenyan Shillings per month in Angani credits, while all the other finalists will receive a three-month free service for up to 5 000 Kenyan Shillings per month in Angani credits.

As listed in the announcement, below are the winning startups:

Shield won the Mobile Finance category. It’s described as offering under banked employees salary advances directly to their phones.

Duma Works connects growing companies to talent via an SMS-based job matching platform that ensures quality through a screening process. The startup walked away as the winner in the Mobile Enterprise category.

Read more: How important is Kenya in Africa’s growing startup scene?

The best Mobile Entertainment company, Makarao, is said to be a hilarious 2D animation series on YouTube with episodes ranging between one and two minutes, tackling social issues.

Arifu won the Mobile Society category for its education marketplace, where the world’s least served people find information they need from organisations they trust on any mobile phone.

Rwanda’s Safemotos is the only startup winner outside of Kenya and uses smartphone sensors to determine whether a taxi driver is safe or not. The startup won in the Mobile Utilities category.

Startups interested in participating in Pivot East 2016 are encouraged to start building profiles of their startups here for initial business model refinement support and guidance.

Image via Pivot East