First African company joins 500 Startup Accelerator Program

Our client Dropifi has joined the 500 Startup Accelerator Program as the first African company ever selected.

Dropifi is a smart customer service widget that allows companies to analyze, visualize and respond to incoming “contact us” messages and filter out spam.  Founded in 2011 by Kamil Nabong, David Osei and Effah Mensah, the Dropifi widget has had more than 8,000 WordPress downloads and more than 900 Shopify stores using it.

“Being the first African startup to join a leading US accelerator validates our idea and serves as a springboard for us to take giant leaps into helping businesses better interact with customers,” Osei said.

The Silicon Valley-based, 500 Startups Accelerator Program provides seed money, mentorship, customer acquisition strategy assistance and a workspace for each of its startups over an intensive four month time period.  Focusing on startups in financial services, e-commerce, mobile platforms, education, healthcare and web infrastructure, 500 Startups has invested in more than 100 companies including BrightNest, Bespoke Post and Tello.

“Very few seed investors in Silicon Valley will put money into markets as early as Africa, but we think talent exists in every corner of the globe.  Dropifi has a killer team and a promising product with global reach,” said 500 Startups founder Dave McClure.

Dropifi won the Kauffmann Foundation backed Global Start Up Open in November and was named one of the top 20 startsup in Africa by Forbes Magazine.

Dropifi joins 27 other companies in the accelerated program’s sixth round, which began in mid-April.