Google has selected three Nigerian startups, Intron Voice AI, Termii Group and Vendy, among 10 African companies chosen for the first cohort of its Africa Applied AI Lab, giving the businesses an opportunity to develop their artificial intelligence solutions with support from the technology giant.
The selected Nigerian companies will join innovators from other African countries working on AI applications across healthcare, agriculture, financial services, customer communication and access to information.
The programme attracted more than 5,000 applicants, according to Smile ID Chief Executive Officer, Mark Straub, whose company was also selected for the inaugural cohort. The initiative will connect participating startups with Google’s engineers, research scientists and product leaders to help advance their technologies.
Brandspur Brand News reports that the Nigerian companies were selected for solutions targeting different challenges in the country’s growing digital economy.
Intron Voice AI, founded by Dr Tobi Olatunji, develops speech recognition technology designed to understand African accents and local languages. Its solutions have potential applications in healthcare, legal services and customer support, where language differences can affect communication and access to services.
Termii Group, founded by Emmanuel Gbolade, Ayomide Awe and Atinuke Idowu, provides communication infrastructure for businesses. Its services include verification codes, fraud checks and transaction alerts, which support secure digital interactions between companies and their customers.
Vendy, founded by Kayode Disu and Peter Ekunkoya, focuses on helping businesses sell through WhatsApp. The platform also provides escrow payment services designed to make transactions between buyers and sellers safer.
The other selected companies are AethexAI, agrails, Crane AI Labs, Satlyt, Smile ID, Tolbi and Viamo.
Their solutions cover a range of applications, including AI-powered voice agents, agricultural insurance, offline healthcare tools, satellite-based computing, identity verification and local-language communication.
Smile ID, led by Straub, uses computer vision and machine learning to help businesses verify identities securely across Africa. Following the selection, Straub credited the company’s AI team and described the programme as an opportunity to advance the use of artificial intelligence in business operations.
Participating startups will gain access to Google’s AI models, including Gemini and Gemma, alongside technical guidance and business support.
The programme also involves venture capital firms 4DX Ventures, Norrsken22, Novastar Ventures and Ventures Platform, which will provide business guidance to help the startups develop their products and build sustainable operations.
The selected companies are expected to meet in Accra, Ghana, in December for a demonstration day at the Accra AI Community Centre, where they will showcase their innovations to investors and industry leaders.
For Nigeria’s technology sector, the selection places three homegrown businesses among a group of African innovators seeking to apply artificial intelligence to practical challenges, from language accessibility and digital payments to customer communication and business security.
