Plug and Play Batch 2 program launches in Morocco

MOROCCO, September 20, 2021 — Following the success of their Smart Cities Batch 1 program, Plug and Play Morocco is launching a second accelerator in the region. This program follows the same strategy as other successful Plug and Play programs around the globe, with the goal to make Morocco the premiere destination of startups in the surrounding regions.

On September 10th, 2021, Plug and Play Morocco hosted their second Selection Day in the region in a virtual setting. Executives from the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University, OCP Group, and its engaged business units, witnessed 16 African startup pitches, carefully shortlisted by the Plug and Play Ventures team. Then, they voted, following a set of metrics provided by Plug and Play, to choose a lineup of startups they considered ready for the second acceleration batch. This is an equity-free program for innovative and forward-thinking startups that will shape the future in Africa, out of StartGate, North Africa’s largest startup facility located on UM6P’s campus in Ben Guerir, Morocco.

The 11 selected startups officially joining this second batch are from Morocco, Uganda and Tunisia, and operate in the following focus areas: Brand and Retail, Enterprise Tech, Fintech, Energy, Sustainability, Industry 4.0, IoT, and Health.

• DeepEcho: a health tech company building an AI product developed by doctors and AI scientists & aiming at reinforcing antenatal diagnosis. Through high-performance Deep Learning algorithms, they are working on software to prevent birth defects, address preterm birth, low birth weight, and their outcomes, while getting a computer to mimic what a trained sonographer would do and simplify ultrasound so that minimally trained clinical professionals assisted by AI technologies, can also use it in nontraditional healthcare settings.
• Emata: a company bringing digital and affordable financial products to farmers in East Africa. The startup is disrupting the $240b farmer financing opportunity in Africa by providing digital to farmers, by leveraging financial  technology, alternative credit scoring, and  partnerships  with cooperatives and aggregators to  reach farmers at scale.
• I-Sense: a SAAS solution that includes a powerful device management system and integrated analysis tools that allow you to connect and manage devices without the need to program, all within a secure environment. I-SENSE allows its users to connect their assets, collect data and analyze them to improve decision-making practices.
• Jobop: an on-demand temporary staffing platform connecting companies with temporary workers, with the vision that technology and data are the main levers to disrupt the temporary staffing industry while aiming to improve the employability of millions of workers.
• MintHR: an All-in-one employee experience platform in SaaS mode for SMBs from 10 to 1 000 employees. They have built a data-driven digital solution that helps modern companies attract, motivate, retain, and develop their employees in an evolving world.
• Mouhimatech: an interim company providing job opportunities! Their mission is to digitize the temporary workforce field, through the use of automation and e-commerce practices to accelerate hiring and grow retention for job seekers.
• Pega Health: Pega Health is a full digital health insurance company that ambitions to serve the changing habits of SMEs and independents in Africa.
• Saweblia: a full-service provider for home and office repairs offering more than 200 services in 8 categories including plumbing, electricity, painting, etc. with the guarantee that the work will be well done to the end clients and organization, and that additional revenue and social incentives will be provided to the handymen.
• Veezen: a Work-Life Harmony BtoB solution for companies willing to boost their employees' engagement and unlock their full potential.
• Wafr: A mobile payment solution aiming to decrease the biggest expense of people: fast-moving consumer goods without decreasing the grocer's profit in order to improve people's buying power in the third world.
• Wattnow: an IoT Energy Management Solution that measures real-time consumption using Smart meters connected to a cloud-based Dashboard and Mobile App. Wattnow helps companies and homeowners gain actionable insights on their overall electricity usage trends, identify waste sources, and maintain optimal energy use across all of their locations.

Along with this lineup of startups, the winning team of the Smart Cities Hackathon, a technological competition organized by Plug and Play Morocco along with SADV and Enactus Morocco, will be joining the acceleration program with Electriciti, a project idea aimed at promoting responsible electricity consumption. Electriciti is a solution that includes a sensor along with an integrated tracking device, allowing users to keep track of their real-time electricity consumption, have access to weekly consumption reports and predict monthly bills.

The accelerated teams will benefit from a three-month, in-person program, that offers a multitude of opportunities for small businesses to grow. It also includes about four interactive workshops per week as well as one-on-one coaching sessions with international experts in a comprehensive number of subjects such as, but not limited to: growth hacking and digital marketing, pricing and revenue models, accounting, tax law and legal frameworks, go-to-market strategies, early-stage investments, storytelling, purposeful narrative and pitch polishing. Plug and Play Morocco has conducted research and gathered valuable feedback from startups and experts who participated in their first acceleration program (January - April 2021) in order to maximize their impact and improve the quality and organization of their second program.

About Plug and Play

Plug and Play is the leading innovation platform, connecting startups, corporations, venture capital firms, universities, and government agencies. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we're present in 35+ locations across five continents. We offer corporate innovation programs and help our corporate partners in every stage of their innovation journey, from education to execution. We also organize startup acceleration programs and have built an in-house VC to drive innovation across multiple industries where we've invested in hundreds of successful companies including Dropbox, Guardant Health, Honey, Lending Club, N26, PayPal, and Rappi. For more information, visit https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/

For more information about our program in Morocco, visit https://www.plugandplaytechcenter.com/morocco/