By Prince Osuagwu

Africa’s venture ecosystem showed remarkable resilience in 2025, raising $3.9 billion in capital funding.
This is mostly because the continent’s tech founders are actively solving fundamental infrastructural challenges, bridging gaps in financial inclusion, healthcare, and supply chains with complex AI.

However, scaling deep-tech solutions requires specialized technical infrastructure, advanced cloud capabilities, and strategic mentorship to complement this capital.

Accelerator programs provide these exact tools, ensuring local innovations can sustainably grow into businesses that power the continent’s digital economy.

That is why it’s big deal that out of the 15 Pan-African group of companies to join the10th cohort of the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa, four are Nigerian tech startups

The indigenous start-ups – Bani, MasteryHive AI, Regxta and Termii were chosen from an exceptionally competitive pool of nearly 2,600 applications, which further proves Nigeria’s prominent position in the continent’s tech ecosystem.

Google said that with an acceptance rate of less than 1%, their selection highlights the immense technical talent and resilience emerging from Nigeria’s digital ecosystem.

The statement may not be far-fetched considering the roles these four tech startups play, particularly in the country’s fintech ecosystem.

They are utilizing Artificial Intelligence to address critical local and regional challenges.

For instance, Bani is a cross-border payments infrastructure platform eliminating settlement delays for African businesses trading globally.

MasteryHive AI is an AI-native platform automating transaction reconciliation, fraud detection, and AML monitoring.

Regxta combines alternative data-driven credit scoring with a hybrid digital-agent distribution model to deliver financial products to unbanked micro businesses; while Termii, an AI-native communications infrastructure platform ensures reliable financial messaging for banks and fintechs.

A proud Gbolade Emmanuel, CEO of Termii, in describing his platform said: “At Termii, we’re building AI-powered infrastructure that ensures financial transactions don’t fail, from login PINs to payment OTPs and fraud alerts. The Google Startup Accelerator is helping us accelerate our AI roadmap and scale globally, and even in the first week, access to technical support and insights has been incredibly valuable for our next phase of growth.”

The hybrid programme which runs up to June 19th, 2026, will provide the 15 startups with dedicated guidance from experienced mentors and industry experts, alongside hands-on technical workshops focused on AI and machine learning.

Head of Startup Ecosystem, Africa, Folarin Aiyegbusi, said: “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome these exceptional founders into Class 10,”

“African startups are driving essential economic growth and social development. Our role is to serve as a supportive partner, providing these developers and founders with the technical infrastructure, mentorship, and global network they need to scale their solutions and amplify their real-world impact.” he added.

Since launching in 2018, the Google for Startups Accelerator Africa program has supported 106 startups from 17 African countries, empowering them to collectively raise over $263 million and create more than 2,800 jobs.