Second cohort of MAN Impact Accelerator kicks off with three SA companies

The second edition of the MAN Impact Accelerator kicked off yesterday (5 November) in Munich, Germany with three SA startups making up part of the second cohort’s eight startups.

SA companies Last Mile for BOP, Mobile Schools Health and VIA Global Health were selected to join the six-month long accelerator programme along with three European and two Indian startups.

MAN Truck and Bus digital innovation manager Florian Stehbeck told Ventureburn today (6 November) that 270 startups from Europe, India and South Africa had applied to join the programme, and that a quarter of applications had come from South Africa.

The six-month long MAN Impact Accelerator programme kicked off yesterday (5 November) in Munich, Germany

Stehbeck said the eight startups will tomorrow (7 November) travel to the Global Social Business Summit in Wolfsburg, Germany where they will meet Nobel Peace Prize laureate Muhammad Yunus.

“We are really looking forward to supporting all these amazing startups on their way to become a sustainable business with more social impact,” he said.

Last year, two SA startups — Mellocabs and GetTruck — were selected to join the accelerator’s inaugural cohort.

More on the startups

Last Mile for BOP: This Cape Town based startup aims to build a cost effective last-mile distribution channel of cost-saving and income-generating products and services in SA townships. The company, which was founded in 2013 by Arnaud Blanchet (pictured above, left), does so by partnering with all existing networks — from post services to dairy, micro-finance institutions to trash collectors.

Mobile Schools Health: Cape Town based Mobile Schools Health, which is a subsidiary of the MST Group, mobilises preventative healthcare services using large and versatile mobile clinics to deliver optometry, primary healthcare and oral health care to learners in underserved and disadvantaged primary schools.

VIA Global Health: Operating from offices in the US and South Africa, Via Global Health is a distribution and market intelligence platform that connects local medical distributors with health equipment manufacturers throughout the world, enabling quality healthcare in underserved markets. The startup was founded in 2015 by CEO Noah Perin (pictured above, far right) and CTO Brendan Lilly.

Read more: SA startups Mellowcabs, GetTruck join MAN Impact Accelerator first cohort

Featured image (left to right): Last Mile for BOPs founder Arnaud Blanchet, Mobile Schools Health’s Grant Byron and Krista Robert, VIA Global Health CEO and co-founder Noah Perin at the MAN Bus Forum in Munich (Supplied)