South Africa - Startup under 3 years old

Describe your project or startup in a few words

Fundani Bot is a WhatsApp Educational chat bot aimed at bringing the rich-poor gap in underserved communities, by giving high school learners (currently, grade 10-12) access to study material and past exam questions papers using just WhatsApp data.

01.01 Describe your startup in more detail

Fundani Bot was established in August 2023 at a Geekulcha #ghack2023 Hackathon. The company is co-founded by Palesa Ntshanga and Lehlohonono Malomane. What inspired the birth of Fundani Bot is the current state of the education system in Graham's town, Eastern Cape, South Africa. Grahamstown houses some of the most expensive schools in the country and yet there's a part of town that is home to the poorest and under performing schools in the country. This so visibly unbalanced education system has put the learners in the underserved communities at a disadvantage already, considering that without proper access to resources, the learners cannot perform to their fullest potential.

01.02 What is the main problem you are trying to solve?

We are trying to bridge the digital divide and the rich-poor gap in the educational system. Most schools in underserved communities have a shortage of teachers, textbooks, and access to computer facilities. As Fundani Bot we are trying to fill in where the schooling system is lacking by providing these learners with access to a virtual teacher, access to the internet by just using WhatsApp and access to study resources.

01.03 Tell us the major benefits and/or advantages of using the product/service that your startup provides (at least 3).

Using our chat bot allows learners to get access to the information on the internet without incurring extra data costs. This includes looking up mathematical solution, doing a history research and downloading past questions paper amongst many other functionalities

01.04 Please describe who exactly your startup’s product/service is aimed at serving. Who are the targeted beneficiaries?

Our product is targeted at high school learners in underserved communities, learners who do not have access to extra support outside of school hours. This can be access to a private tutor or textbooks outside of school.

01.05 When was your company established?

2023-10-01

01.06 Are you already selling your product/service?

No

01.07 How many other owners are there within your startup?

3

01.08 Among the other owners, how many are female?

1

01.09 Please describe the profile of the other owners within your startup (skills, experience, etc.)

Palesa Ntshanga and Lehlohonono Malomane are both final year software engineering students at WeThinkCode_. Persuing an NQF 5 in systems development. Palesa has taken up a mobile development elective, while Lehlohonono Malomane has taken up a systems integration elective. Palesa is killed in PHP, python and java programming, as well as mobile and web development amongst other skills. Lehlohonono is skilled in python and java programming as well as web development amongst other skills.

01.10 If you have a website, a social media page (Facebook, Instagram, Linkedin…), or app, please provide the link(s) here:

http://fundanibot.co.za

01.11 Which industry best describes your project?

j) Public services

02.01.01 My startup contributes to the No poverty goal

3

02.01.02 No poverty - Justification for my startup

02.02.01 My startup contributes to the Zero hunger goal

4

02.02.02 Zero hunger - Justification for my startup

02.03.01 My startup contributes to the Good health and well-being goal

6

02.03.02 Good health and well-being - Justification for my startup

Not having access to basic necessities that you should have access to as a child is extremely daunting and can affect your mental wellbeing. As Fundani Bot we believe that we contribute to the goal of good health and wellbeing by providing learners with the services that they need, such as access to the internet, access to exam guidelines, access to textbook information and access to past exam question papers at no extra data costs.

02.04.01 My startup contributes to the Quality education goal

7 - Strongly Agree

02.04.02 Quality education - Justification for my startup

Quality education in my understanding is having access to resources that are in line with your curriculum. Fundani Bot has been providing learners with educational support that is online with their curriculum such as access to CAPS standard textbook information, and past questions papers, as well as a virtual tutor to walk the learners through tasks that they find difficult to understand.

02.05.01 My startup contributes to the Gender equality goal

5

02.05.02 Gender equality - Justification for my startup

Fundani Bot does not have a gender restrictions, all resources can be accessed by anyone regardless of gender. This allows a fair and equal opportunity to all genders to get access to educational resources.

02.06.01 My startup contributes to the Clean water and sanitation goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.06.02 Clean water and sanitation - Justification for my startup

02.07.01 My startup contributes to the Affordable and clean energy goal

4

02.07.02 Affordable and clean energy - Justification for my startup

02.08.01 My startup contributes to the Decent work and economic growth

4

02.08.02 Decent work and economic growth - Justification for my startup

02.09.01 My startup contributes to the Industry innovation and infrastructure

4

02.09.02 Industry innovation and infrastructure - Justification for my startup

02.10.01 My startup contributes to the Reduced inequalities goal

5

02.10.02 Reduced inequalities - Justification for my startup

Fundani Bot is constantly trying to balance out the scale of equality in rich-poor schools by giving learners access to the basics resources that a school should have

02.11.01 My startup contributes to the Sustainable cities and communities goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.11.02 Sustainable cities and communities - Justification for my startup

02.12.01 My startup contributes to the Responsible consumption and production goal

4

02.12.02 Responsible consumption and production - Justification for my startup

02.13.01 My startup contributes to the Climate action goal

4

02.13.02 Climate action - Justification for my startup

02.14.01 My startup contributes to the Life below water goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.14.02 Life below water - Justification for my startup

02.15.01 My startup contributes to the Life on land goal

1 - Strongly Disagree

02.15.02 Life on land - Justification for my startup

02.16.01 My startup contributes to the Peace Justice and Strong Institutions goal

2

02.16.02 Peace Justice and Strong Institutions- Justification for my startup

02.17.01 My startup contributes to the Partnerships for the goal

2

02.17.02 Partnerships for the goal - Justification for my startup

06.01 There are a large number of customers who already use a product/service very similar to the product/service we envision creating.

6

06.02 The product/service represents an entirely new type of product/service.

3

06.03 The product/service could be described as a new technology.

4

06.04 The product/service is an improvement on an existing product or service.

4

06.05 The product/service could be described as an extension of a range of products or services.

5

06.06 The product/service responds to a demand or need that has not been satisfied by other products/services.

6

06.07 The product/service is a new version of an old product/service.

5

06.08 Justification for my startup

Our product is unique in that it can engage with customers on the educational topic of choice. It is designed to simulate the personality of a teacher to allow learners to resonate with it as if they were engaging with their teachers. It is a teacher at your finger tips.

06.09 Competitive Analysis

Foonda mate. Our chatbot is aAI powered allowing it to engage in coherent conversations with users, allowing users to download questions papers and responding to prompts as accurately as it can.

11.05 Are you initiating actions within your community to promote the role of female entrepreneurs?