The startups joining the 2020 Facebook Community Accelerator program have been announced and 12 Sub-Saharan Africa startups have been selected for the program. Among the 12, 4 are from Nigeria.
The four are HelpMum-Abiodun Adereni; Safe Place-Hauwa Ojeifo, The Roothub-Tony Onuk, and Utiva-Eyitayo Ogunmola.
The Community Accelerator Program is focused more specifically on communities that are already established, have a business model, and are looking to grow their community through the Facebook family of apps.
The Community Accelerator Program is a six-month program aimed at helping community leaders quickly and strategically achieve their growth goals. The initiative is part of Facebook’s mission to empower and invest in these leaders to start, grow, and sustain significant communities that positively impact people’s lives.
Facebook said $3 million in total would be awarded to participants globally. Facebook will work with GlobalGiving to fund participants’ approved growth plans.
According to Facebook, participants will learn how to optimize Facebook’s family of tools, features, and apps to grow and scale their community. They will learn multiple growth strategies and how they can leverage each of them to build and improve their community. They will also learn how to define, measure, and communicate the influence their community has on the world.
The Community Accelerator is an evolution of Facebook’s Fellowship program, which in 2019 supported 115 participating leaders worldwide. Together, those leaders reported that their projects impacted over 1.9 million lives through online community support, the use of helpful resources, and other activities made possible by the program.
Commenting, Kezia Anim-Addo, Head of Communications for Sub-Saharan Africa said: “We’re delighted to be welcoming 12 African community leaders to Facebook’s first Community Accelerator. We’ve seen time and again the power of communities in bringing people closer together and feeling more connected.
“We know community leaders can do extraordinary things when they have adequate support from others, tools to get the job done, funding to grow, and belief in themselves. The Facebook Community Accelerator will enable these great communities to make an even greater positive impact in the world, and we hope that through the support of the programme these communities will have an extraordinary impact, even in extraordinary times.”
Meet the Nigerian startups
In 2017, Abiodun Adereni started HelpMum to tackle maternal and infant mortality in remote rural areas in Nigeria. HelpMum provides Clean Birth Kit for hygienic delivery to pregnant women and provides immunization reminders and health information to nursing mothers. It has reached 27,000+ pregnant women and nursing mothers with the HelpMum Clean Birth and vaccination tracking system.
2.) Safe Place, Hauwa Ojeifo
In 2016, Hauwa created Safe Place Nigeria to provide a stigma and judgment-free space for young people to talk about mental health-related issues. It has become a community for young people to learn, feel connected, get support, and feel a sense of belonging. Its 22,000+ members have benefitted from free telephone counseling, support groups, and mental health resources.
3.) The Roothub, Tony Onuk
Roothub was started in 2014 to provide a safe space for youths to build their ideas, grow their businesses, and access support. Now its 15,000+ members participate in training and activities within communities of the Niger-Delta region to find jobs, advance career paths and drive self-reliance through entrepreneurship.
4.) Utiva, Eyitayo Ogunmola
