Novastar joins Google Africa Applied AI Lab to back startups

Novastar Ventures, an Africa-focused venture capital firm, has partnered with the Google AI Futures Fund (AIFF) on the newly unveiled Google Africa Applied AI Lab, an initiative designed to support founders across the continent who use AI research to address African challenges.

As part of the initiative, Novastar will work alongside 4DX Ventures, Norrsken22, and Ventures Platform in identifying and supporting startups building AI-powered solutions for African markets.

The partnership comes as Africa grows to become a promising market for applied AI. The GSM Association (GSMA) estimated that artificial intelligence could add as much as $2.9 trillion to the continent’s economy by 2030, provided access to data, computing infrastructure, and digital skills continues to improve. 

“We believe Africa is one of the most important markets for applied AI anywhere in the world,” Steve Beck, co-founder and Managing Partner at Novastar Ventures, wrote in a Medium post. “The reason being that entrepreneurs there are using AI not merely for productivity gains or entertainment — they are solving fundamental problems for everyday people. By working alongside a pioneering, global AI leader, we’re excited to help exceptional African entrepreneurs harness frontier technologies to scale their impact.”

Launched on Wednesday at Google’s Cloud Summit in South Africa and based at the Accra AI Community Centre (AICC) in Ghana, the Google Africa Applied AI Lab focuses on connecting founders and researchers from Google DeepMind and Google Research to jointly develop AI products and services that tackle pressing challenges across sectors on the continent.

According to Google, the selected startups would receive early access to Google’s latest AI models, including Gemini, Gemma, and Veo, allowing them to test commercial applications before the models are released to the general market. 

Novastar, along with the other VC firms, will provide technical mentorship and go-to-market support to founders. The firm said it would also assist in sourcing promising founders, support participating startups through its network, and potentially invest in companies emerging from the program.

It added that it would evaluate applicants for the inaugural cohort, with five to 10 startups and researchers expected to be selected before the first group is announced in September.

The collaboration comes three months after Novastar reached the final close of its third fund, raising $147 million for its Africa People and Planet Fund III, capital that the firm is deploying into businesses across stages.

“At Novastar, we have been backing entrepreneurs solving Africa’s toughest challenges for the last twelve years,” said Beck. “Increasingly, we’re seeing AI tools become a critical part of how those solutions are built, delivered and scaled. The ambition is to support a generation of African founders building globally significant AI businesses.”

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