Qualcomm has announced the ten African startups selected for its 2026 Make in Africa Mentorship Program, an initiative aimed at supporting early-stage startups building advanced technology solutions across the continent.

Now in its fourth year, the programme forms part of Qualcomm’s broader Africa Innovation Platform and focuses on helping startups working in areas such as artificial intelligence, IoT, edge computing, machine learning and smart connectivity.

According to Qualcomm, this year’s cohort was chosen from more than 1,200 applications submitted from over 45 African countries, making it the most competitive edition of the programme so far. The selected startups were picked for their use of advanced technologies to solve practical problems across sectors including agriculture, smart infrastructure, transportation, accessibility and utilities.

The ten startups selected for the 2026 Qualcomm Make in Africa programme are:

Amperra Charging Company (Namibia) – An AI-powered smart EV charging platform built to support electric vehicle adoption across Africa.
Anatsor Ltd (Nigeria) – A digital poultry management platform designed to improve productivity and health tracking for poultry farmers.
D-Olivette Labs (Nigeria) – A bio-intelligence platform providing agricultural insights to improve sustainable farming.
Mindora Corporation (Zimbabwe) – A Braille keyboard solution aimed at improving digital accessibility for visually impaired users.
MVUTU (Republic of the Congo) – A solar-powered IoT cold storage solution designed to reduce post-harvest losses for farmers.
QualiKeeper Investments Ltd (Zambia) – An AIoT livestock monitoring system built for rural areas with limited connectivity.
SafeSip (Tanzania) – A smart water access and monitoring platform focused on improving drinking water reliability.
Sesi Technologies Ltd (Ghana) – An AI-powered device for early cocoa quality assessment and supply chain transparency.
TWave Ltd (Uganda) – A solar-powered automated fish feeding system for aquaculture businesses.
Zerobionic (Kenya) – A company building assistive robotics solutions for people living with disabilities.

As part of the programme, the selected startups will receive one-on-one mentorship, business coaching, engineering consultation and product development support from Qualcomm and its partners. They will also gain access to Qualcomm-supported Arduino AI development hardware to help prototype and build their solutions.

In addition, each startup that completes the programme will receive a $5,000 stipend, while one standout participant will be awarded additional funding through Qualcomm for Good’s Social Impact Fund at the end of the mentorship cycle. Startups filing patents during the programme may also qualify for up to $5,000 in patent filing reimbursements.

Qualcomm says the programme also places a strong focus on intellectual property education, with participants receiving patent filing guidance and free access to IP training through the L2Pro Africa platform.

Commenting on the latest cohort, Qualcomm said the growing number of applications and sophistication of projects being submitted reflects the continued growth of Africa’s startup ecosystem, particularly in deep-tech sectors.

The African Telecommunications Union is once again partnering with Qualcomm on the initiative, marking its fourth consecutive year supporting the programme.

With interest in African deep-tech innovation continuing to rise, Qualcomm’s Make in Africa programme is increasingly becoming one of the continent’s notable opportunities for startups looking to access mentorship, funding and technical support without giving up equity.