Meet the women-led Web3 startups from Shih Face Demo Day

Thousand Faces, a Web3 community-based investment group, hosted a showcase day Wednesday with the top 10 startups in its Female Founder Accelerator program.

The showcase day coincided with International Women’s Day and women-led businesses focused on the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The first cohort of the Accelerator program received 30 startups from over 220 applicants in 76 countries.

The 10 startups are vying for a spot in the top 5 for one-on-one mentoring and a cash prize of up to €50,000 and prizes to be awarded next month, the team said.

Here is a list of the top 10 startups of Thousand Faces by a Female Founder:

Company Name: Kleiderly

• What it does: Recycle textile waste
• Founder: Alina Bassi
• Country: Germany
• Clayderly turns unwanted textile waste into a patented plastic alternative with the aim of replacing the need for plastics by recycling it. The material aims to replace oil-based plastics and produce items ranging from eyewear to luggage, Bassey said at the show day. So far, 20,000 shirts have been saved from going to the landfill, Bassey added. The startup estimates that each corporate customer will burn 12,500 kg of CO2e, more than 1.5 million smartphones or 13,800 pounds of coal.

Company Name: SALUBATA

• What it does: Shoes made from recycled plastic
• Founder: Yewande Akinse
• Country: Nigeria
• The highlight: SALUBATA makes patented modular shoes from recycled plastic waste, to reduce the world’s carbon footprint. The shoes are customizable and also available as NFTs. The startup has strategic partnerships with companies like Amazon and Faire and has sold over 6,000 feet to date. It is currently registered in Nigeria, France and the US and is looking to raise $3 million globally, Akinse shared.

Company Name: SOULA (legal name MMATECH Inc.)

• What it does: Pre and pregnancy app
• Founder: Natalia Miranchuk
• Country: Cyprus
• The Voice: The SOULA app is an AI-powered guide to 24/7 information and mental health support during pregnancy, birth and postpartum care. The app provides personalized educational content and emotional support via a virtual assistant or “pocket” version of a doula. It is currently raising a seed round to invest in business development and ramp up its product development.

Company Name: AkwaaPay

• What it does: Payments solution
• Founder: Christine Dikonguè
• Country: Canada and Nigeria
• The Field: AkwaaPay uses Web3 infrastructure to help African businesses and individuals make and receive payments globally. The platform allows users to receive funds in their wallets in cryptocurrencies or convert them to local currencies. The startup launched its beta product in Q4 2022, with 384 users signed up across three countries. By the end of the year, it hopes to expand to 44 countries in 15 different currencies, DiCongue said during her game.

Company Name: Jonda Health

• What it does: Health Network’s patient-facing app
• Founder: Suhina Singh
• Country: Singapore
• Highlights: Jonda Health aims to improve the health information available to patients. It’s building a “Lego-like technology stack” to improve care coordination, reduce costs and improve patient health outcomes, among other things, Singh shared during her audio. The platform complies with data privacy laws and uses zero-knowledge encryption to store data securely, Singh added.

Company Name: Radava Mercantile

• What it does: Connects agriculture to financial markets.
• Founder: Josephine Adeti Otieno
• Country: Kenya
• The Field: Radava aims to connect smallholder agricultural farmers in sub-Saharan Africa to financial markets. It provides farmers with an exchange market for agricultural produce, alternative financing and post-harvest technologies. The startup empowers farmers to get their produce as collateral through credit and real-time market information. Otieno shared that in the last six months, over 540 tonnes have been traded on the platform with over 650 customers and users at a revenue of $26,000.

Company Name: Biiah

• What it does: Sing the security platform
• Founder: Xann Schwinn, Suzi Digby Obe
• Country: United Kingdom
• The Game: Biiah is an employee wellness platform that aims to create a daily chanting schedule and make it accessible physically, virtually or through an app to help users improve their health. The platform focuses on large corporations in the UK and US and has 12 repeat customers and 24 total customers to date, Schwinn said. ExxonMobil is a customer, and 92 percent of employees who used it said it “had a positive impact on their work week.”

Company Name: Kerat start

• What it does: Food production
• Founder: Salma Isa
• Country: Syria
• The Game: Kerat startup aims to use normally wasted carbon for food to provide “food for good” or food security. The prototype includes coffee, sweet bread and chocolate and is suitable for diabetics, heart and blood pressure patients. So far, it has six partners, including UNICEF, and works with 22 farmers and 20 schools.

Company Name: CONCAT TECH

• What it does: Web development company
• Founder: Laura Jardine
• Country: UK/Lebanon
• The conclusion: CONCAT creates websites for clients worldwide while providing long-term sustainable work for marginalized communities such as refugees. He has over 50 customers in 12 different countries and has generated $90,000 in revenue to date. It also provided employment opportunities for about 15 marginalized immigrant and/or female entrepreneurs, Jardine said.

Company Name: Magic Water

• What does clean water technology do?
• Founder: House Wanjiku Koigi
• Country: Kenya
• Field: Magic Water is a Kenyan social enterprise that aims to provide access to clean drinking water in arid and semi-arid areas using air-to-water technology and equipment. Even if you’re in the desert, you can still find drinking water, Coigy said. The startup has more than 20 large devices and 10 small devices that produce more than 300,000 liters of water every month for more than 2,500 users in Kenya, Somalia and Ethiopia. Coigy said it is raising a $200,000 preferred equity round and $190,000 in grant funding to help with manufacturing.