Pula, Sendy among World Economic Forum top 100 global tech pioneers
Kenyan agriculture insurance startup Pula Advisors has been featured in the 2022 Technology Pioneers for its innovation and impact in using technology to provide agriculture insurance to millions of smallholder farmers. PHOTO | POOL
Three Kenyan tech firms have emerged among the top 100 global firms poised to have a significant impact on business and society in this year's World Economic Forum (WEF) Technology Pioneers.
The 2022 Technology Pioneers community shows that three out of the five companies featured on the list from Africa are located in Kenya.
Three Kenyan tech firms have emerged among the top 100 global firms poised to have a significant impact on business and society in this year's World Economic Forum (WEF) Technology Pioneers.
The 2022 Technology Pioneers community shows that three out of the five companies featured on the list from Africa are located in Kenya.
Kenyan agriculture insurance startup Pula Advisors has been featured on the list for its innovation and impact in using technology to provide agriculture insurance to millions of smallholder farmers in emerging markets.
Logistics company Sendy is featured for its role in building fulfillment infrastructure for e-commerce and consumer brands while Access Afya has been recognised for offering high-quality healthcare for the global mass market.
Other firms on the list from Africa include Ampersand (Rwanda) and Okra (Nigeria).
“Farmers in emerging markets are the most hardworking citizens of the world yet the most likely to already feel the impact of climate change. They need products like agriculture insurance and digital agronomy advice to adapt to an increasingly unpredictable climate,” Pula CEO Thomas Njeru said during the nomination ceremony.
Pula operates across 16 countries in Asia and Africa and has listed about 6 million smallholder farmers.
Technology Pioneers are selected based on the WEF community’s selection criteria which consider innovation, leadership and relevance to the global organisation’s platforms.
Selected companies will participate in WEF activities, events and panel discussions throughout the year. The firms will also be part of the Forum’s initiatives aiming to address key industry and societal issues over the next two years.
“We are honoured to be recognised by the World Economic Forum as a technology pioneer. This recognition affirms our belief that the digital economy in Africa presents the biggest opportunity for young people to participate in the economy,” said Sendy founder and CEO Mesh Alloys.
Technology Pioneer was launched in 2000 and features early to growth-stage companies from around the world that are involved in the design, development and deployment of new technologies and innovations.
Some of the companies that have been feted in the past include Google, Airbnb, Mozilla, Spotify, Scribd, Kaggle, Kickstarter, Palantir Technologies and Twitter.
Others are bluebird bio, Bloom Energy, Cyberdyne, Editas Medicine, Foundation Medicine, Proteus Digital Health and Wikimedia.
