Scaling Gamechangers is one of the core components of people-centred justice, a systemic and integrated programming approach to increasing access to justice. HiiL’s Justice Accelerator programme is key to achieving this outcome. It is the only startup accelerator programme dedicated to scaling innovative startup ideas in the justice sector. 

“To close the justice gap, we need to seek out-of-the-box solutions that address people’s problems in the fastest, most affordable and easiest way,” said Iran Huffels, Programme Manager of HiiL’s Justice Accelerator. “And although justice practitioners around the world are working to address this gap, an innovative, financially sustainable and scalable business model is also essential to successfully transforming how justice gets delivered. The point is to help people move forward with their daily lives.” 

To that end, HiiL’s Justice Accelerator programme identifies entrepreneurs working to transform the justice sector. Following 500+ applicants and a rigorous selection process, we are proud to introduce the next generation of impact startups transforming access to justice.

This year, the diverse Justice Accelerator startup portfolio consists of 17 startups, answering different justice issues in Tunisia, Nigeria, Kenya, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan and Egypt.

Over the next four months, the startups will participate in an intense programme of workshops, masterclasses, and mentorship sessions. They will also be guided on their journey by a dedicated coach who supports them on an ongoing basis. By the end of the programme, the startups will receive a €10,000 grant to help level-up their innovative ideas.

Here are the startups of the Justice Accelerator programme 2023:

Click on a country to instantly scroll down

Kenya	Nigeria	Tunisia	Palestine	Jordan	Lebanon	Egypt
HPass Global Limited	XCHANGE BOX SOLUTIONS LTD	Konnect	Oqoodi	SyrGo	Natakallam	Hakouky
Tulix	Awabah	Salaire.TN
Chamasure	Cotruste	Arsela
Kiotapay	ToNote
MALIPO CIRCLES LIMITED	Reeple

Kenya

HPass is an intelligent solution for identity, security, and access management, designed for widespread deployment in homes, offices, and smart cities. Their services encompass digital identity verification, authentication, and robust security measures. According to the JNS findings in Kenya, 21% of individuals reporting legal problems had to confront crime-related issues. By harnessing advanced technologies, Hpass Global aims to facilitate secure and seamless access to diverse online platforms and services, thereby safeguarding users’ personal information and contributing to the prevention of various crime incidents.

Tulix introduces a novel and intelligent approach for Kenyans, regardless of their location, to collaboratively share money, budget effectively, and jointly manage their finances with their trusted connections. With Tulix, users can maintain full visibility and control over how and where their money is utilised. In sub-Saharan Africa, Kenya is the third-largest recipient of remittances, estimated at 3.2 billion USD in 2022. Among the primary reasons for sending money back home is to support families. However, many migrants encounter challenges in tracking the funds once they are sent, leading to a loss of visibility. By providing a solution that enables individuals to trace their money, Tulix enhances transparency, which empowers users to send more funds confidently.

Chamasure is a user-friendly digital platform designed to empower users in underserved communities. It enables them to form localised groups and gain access to health insurance collectively. The platform incorporates a self-vetting membership process, self-regulation, and allows the group members to be the initial point of claim assessment. In Kenya, issues related to social benefits and public services are amongst the legal problems found by the JNS. Chamasure addresses this by providing convenient access to social benefits and safeguarding vulnerable groups against insurance fraud.

Kiotapay is an end-to-end real estate platform for automating billing, collections, payments, expense management, sales and other real estate records. It enhances contractual relationships between property businesses, tenants and buyers by automating lease management, payments and other business processes to guarantee seamless engagement. Housing is one of the most common legal problem categories according to the 2023 JNS in Nigeria. By automating the process, Kiotapay prevents problems with landlord harassment, rent collections, negotiating the rent and determining the value of the property, which are amongst the prevailing Housing issues in Nigeria.

MALIPO is a platform designed to streamline governance, as well as conflict resolution by ensuring compliance with rules and regulations when managing funds within groups. It also facilitates social commerce and fosters meaningful interactions among group members, empowering their economic endeavours. With Malipo, users gain access to money management tools, accounting capabilities, streamlined processes, and conflict resolution mechanisms. This versatile tool caters to both individuals and Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), enabling them to engage in activities such as lending or borrowing money, making investments, fundraising, and conducting payments with merchants.

Nigeria

XCHANGE BOX is a payments collections company that focuses on empowering SMEs in local communities by providing them with basic technology for sales records. This, in turn, helps them establish a credit rating, making them eligible for short-term micro loans. Since their launch, XCHANGEBOX has been at the forefront of delivering cutting-edge services, including Agent Points collections, bill payments, and other related services. It’s worth noting that Nigeria currently has approximately 41.89 million active debit cards, with a significant number of users residing in rural areas that have limited access to ATM points. This is precisely why the feature of Agent Cash Out locations for transactions is gaining popularity, as it addresses this accessibility challenge.

Awabah is a financial wellness platform for gig workers which converts tips from employers to pension savings, health insurance, life insurance and accident coverage. By offering financial wellness to gig workers, a significant portion of the Nigerian population, who have traditionally been excluded from such services and advantages, can now benefit greatly.

Cotruste Equity is a last-mile micro-lending company which uses a digital pairing system that enables over 44 million underbanked micro-traders living in rural semi-urban communities in Nigeria and Africa with smart /USSD phones, to get paired in clusters within their business location and funded within minutes. The financial situation in Nigeria makes the need for credit financing and micro-lending necessary for small businesses to start and accelerate their operations.

ToNote is a digital documentation and verification infrastructure. In Nigeria, there is a lack of trust in the legal system and there is very limited legal awareness. ToNote is building a digital trust infrastructure for Africa. They help people sign, notarise and verify essential documents fully online.  Through ToNote businesses are able to verify documents, verify consumers, and connect with a certified notary online. ToNote supports the prevention of consumer fraud and trust problems.

Reeple is an artificial-intelligence-enabled SaaS platform that helps financial institutions analyse credit worthiness and detect fraud, while also helping borrowers determine their credit score and access credit facilities. It helps financial institutions reduce credit default rates by improving the underwriting process and eliminating errors associated with bias and manual underwriting. It’s worth noting that money problems in Nigeria are amongst the legal problem categories with the lowest resolution rate according to the latest JNS survey conducted in Nigeria.

Tunisia

Konnect aims to simplify complex financial flows for businesses and individuals by offering a comprehensive payment ecosystem. Findings of the JNS survey shows that 20% of legal problems in Tunisia are Money related problems. Surprisingly, people who struggle financially are not more likely than others to face financial disputes. By enabling seamless and efficient cross-border transactions, facilitating secure and swift cross-border payments, currency exchange services and providing users with visibility Konnect aims to prevent money related disputes and time lost on financial transactions.

Salaire.tn is a platform where individuals and job seekers gain knowledge about salary levels, wage trends, and compensation packages across different industries and job roles in Tunisia. Amongst the most common problem categories in Tunisia according to the JNS survey conducted in 2023 are employment problems. The findings showed that employment problems are very serious, yet have a low resolution rate. Innov’Edition SARL offers tools and resources to assist users in making informed decisions regarding their careers, negotiations, and salary expectations.

“E-citoyen.tn” is a product owned by Aresela. It is an online platform in Tunisia that aims to promote citizen engagement and facilitate government-citizen interaction. It serves as a digital gateway for citizens to access various municipal services. The JNS Survey in 2023 reports public service disputes or challenges as the number one legal problem faced by Tunisians. E-citoyen.tn allows citizens to provide feedback, suggestions, or file complaints about public services they have received. This will enhance accountability and improve the quality of public services through citizen participation.

Lebanon

NaTakallam is a social enterprise that connects language learners with displaced individuals, particularly refugees, for language practice and cultural exchange through online video chat. It offers language learning services while providing economic opportunities to displaced individuals who serve as language tutors. Refugees are barred from a right to work, which is fundamentally a legal issue. The digital economy falls outside of the judicial limitations of local work. By providing income-generating opportunities to displaced individuals as language tutors in the digital space, Natakallam helps them regain agency and financial stability.

Palestine

Oqoodi is a platform that provides a secure online work environment that pushes the boundaries of freelance work in the MENA region by providing tools that help both freelancers and employers to manage their work efficiently. Oqoodi provides contract management, escrow & payment protection, task Management as well as payments and money Transfer facilitation. Managing projects, tracking negotiations, and receiving payments is challenging for freelancers. Many rely on freelance platforms, which deduct 13% to 23% from project budgets.

Jordan

Syrgo is an online marketplace that connects Syrians worldwide with trusted lawyers for affordable, efficient retrieval of legal documents and services. Their services include features such as document automation, contract management, legal research, compliance management, and collaboration tools.  The Syrian conflict has left approximately 5.5 million people without access to their personal papers and legal documents, including birth certificates, IDs, and marriage certificates. This situation has resulted in severe limitations on their ability to receive humanitarian and development assistance, as well as restrictions on their movements.

Egypt

Hekouky aims to address the challenges of complexity and inaccessibility often associated with legal and tax services, particularly for startups and SMEs in the Arabic-speaking world. Addressing the legal and justice-related problems faced by SMEs has a significant impact on their ability to succeed, contribute to the economy, create jobs, and drive positive social change. By offering clear guidance, templates, and resources, Hekouky streamlines complex legal and tax processes, making them more understandable and manageable for startups and SMEs.

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Driven by our commitment to people-centred justice at HiiL, we are proud to accelerate the next generation of impact-driven startups that have built break-through solutions to help people with their everyday justice needs that we gather from the justice research we conduct in our focus countries.  

Every week, we will share insights about each startup and their journey through the Accelerator programme on our social media channels. Follow us on LinkedIn | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram to stay up-to-date.

About the Justice Accelerator 

The Justice Accelerator is HiiL’s flagship innovation programme that funds, trains and coaches a global cohort of justice startups. It is the only startup programme and innovation ecosystem builder in the world entirely dedicated to access to justice. We seek startups that solve people’s justice problems and aspire for them to have access to justice at work, at home, in their neighbourhoods and in business.To support scale-ups further advanced in their growth and impact process, we have designed the Scaling Programme together with Growth Africa, a tailored programme to unblock growth challenges and ensure investment-readiness.

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