Held at the Cape Town International Convention Centre, the summit was organized by TotalEnergies in partnership with AWS Startups, Technology Innovation Agency, GIZ SAIS, ESquared Investments, Wesgro, and The City of Cape Town.

Alderman James Voss, Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Growth in the City of Cape Town expressed his delight at being present at the event, describing Cape Town as South Africa’s leading tech ecosystem and he highlighted the importance of ensuring innovation and investment opportunities meet through catalytic partnerships that promote unique African designed solutions geared at solving world problems.

During his welcome address, Viarnaud acknowledged that the last two years have been tough for both founders and investors navigating the funding winter while they focus on solving complex problems. He reminded investors, startup founders, and ecosystem builders in the room that a downturn in the economy is a good time to invest, especially when it comes to investing in the African tech asset class. He said;

Now is the time to invest, Africa is not waiting for the future, we are shaping it.

Viarnaud reflected on the early days of AfricArena in 2017 when only about USD$300 million (approx. UGX1.097 trillion) in funding was flowing into the African continent; he highlighted the remarkable growth, noting that venture capital funding has now surpassed $2 billion this year.

His message to founders, investors, ecosystem organizations and government is that we must, “Believe we will prevail as an African tech ecosystem for if we believe we can build better, aim higher, think big and don’t go home, the investors will follow us because if we are long on this asset class, this asset class will ultimately lead.”

Over 100 startups from 31 African countries, including the TotalEnergies Startupper Challenge winners attended the summit and 45 were selected to pitch their ventures. Nine (9) out of the 45 startups emerged as winners among Africa’s best tech startups in their respective categories —and each won USD$25,000 (approx. UGX91.5 million) in AWS Activate credits.

The AfricArena Grand Summit winners were:

1. Best AI and Deep Tech Startup Award: OkHi (Nigeria).
2. Best Agri Tech Startup Award: Djoli (Ivory Coast).
3. Best Fintech Startup Award: Joro Cash (Morocco).
4. Best Climate Tech Startup Award: Gjenge Makers (Kenya).
5. Best SaaS Startup Award: Cynoia (Tunisia).
6. Best Seed Startup Award: Letsoela Agro-Aviation (Lesotho).
7. Best Startupper Award: Anda (Angola).
8. Most Value Add Investor Award: Knife Capital.
9. Most Promising Entrepreneur: Gael Egbidi (Togo).

Roger Norton, Chief Product Officer at OkHi was thrilled his startup won the Best AI and Deep Tech Startup Award in Africa. “We do address verification in an unsexy, regulated environment, and winning the top AI startup award is great validation that you can apply cutting-edge technology in typically slow-moving sectors.” He added, “Particularly to help accelerate digital transformation and enable economic agency for even the most disadvantaged communities.”

Solimi co-founder and CEO Gael Egbid was overwhelmed with her win. “I feel very proud and happy—this is huge for me, my country, and my company,” she said. “Being recognized as the Most Promising Entrepreneur means a lot because it highlights the innovation coming from Togo here in South Africa, where we have so many amazing startups. I want to thank AfricArena, my country, and my company for this incredible honor.”

Stunned at winning the best investor pitch, Ayanda Bolani, an Investor Associate at Knife Capital accepted the Most Value Add Investor Award on behalf of Knife Capital. “This is a very beautiful moment of recognition,” said Bolani.

Keet van Zyl, co-founder, and partner at Knife Capital, shared the significance of winning the Most Value Add Investor Award, highlighting Knife Capital’s commitment to supporting their portfolio companies beyond just providing capital. He emphasized that focusing on not only funding but also providing companies with networks helps to add strategic value and validates Knife Capital’s approach to attract quality companies seeking investors who contribute more than just funding.

Van Zyl also noted the pride in having team members represent the firm, reflecting its growth and evolution.

Knife Capital continues to play a key role in Africa’s tech and investment landscape, including the USD$50 million (approx. UGX182.87 billion) African Series B expansion fund, Knife Fund III, aimed at bridging funding gaps for scalable South African B2B tech companies.

Recognitions like this award reinforce Knife Capital’s leadership in supporting innovation-driven businesses across the continent.

AfricArena has established itself as a leading platform dedicated to creating market access and fostering investment opportunities for a growing community of tech founders, angel investors, corporate innovators, and venture capitalists. Designed with a digital-first mindset, AfricArena operates through a series of high-impact investment deal flow events, tailored interventions, and an open-source platform that champions the principles of open innovation and entrepreneurship.

In just eight years since its launch, they have earned significant credibility within the global tech startup ecosystem, with alumni startups collectively raising over USD$850 million (approx. UGX3.108 trillion) in funding.

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The top 20 list has entrepreneurs from across the African continent including; Nigeria, Madagascar, Tanzania, Egypt, Senegal, Cameroon, Sierra Leone, South Africa, Morocco, Kenya, Ghana, Rwanda, Malawi, Benin and Uganda.

From Uganda is Jonathan Paul Katumba, 22, founder of Minute5 – an online grocery delivery service with a focus on fresh farm products. Minute5 sources fresh fruits, vegetables, and other produce from small scale farmers and then delivers to consumers and businesses. Falling under the Consumer products sector.

Also Hamidu Biha, 22, founder of Biha Eco Venture, an innovative recycling company that uses poultry eggshells to make various eco-friendly products including eco-charcoal and eco-tiles. Falling under the Manufacturing sector.

Since its start, Anzisha Prize has partnered with the Mastercard Foundation and the African Leadership Academy to support 122 entrepreneurs. 77 of the businesses supported have created north of 2,000 jobs for other young people.

The top 20 share knowledge and learn from various experts in preparation for their final pitches. They will also receive a cash prize of USD$2500 each. The grand prize winner will receive USD$25000, while the 1st runner and 2nd runner receive USD$15000 and USD$12500 respectively.

To vote for the entrepreneurs visit anzisha.org/Top20.

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Carbon’s Disrupt fund will invest up to USD$10,000 (approx. UGX36.8 million) per startup as well as giving the access to Carbon’s API allowing investees to leverage Carbon’s growing customer base and innovative technology platform, to get to market faster.

“Our fund will enable this collaboration, allowing these startups to market to our customer base and vice versa, A win-win for everyone. As the saying goes, ‘if you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together,” Mr Ngozi Dozie, co-founder of Carbon said in a press statement.

Acknowledging that its success is dependent on the growth of the tech ecosystem, Carbon expects the initiative to spark more collaboration and further investment that should drive growth across the ecosystem. It’s not all altruistic, unfortunately!

“Common investor wisdom is to stay in your market and dominate. This assumes that you are expanding on your own but we believe that by collaborating and partnering deliberately, Carbon and other technology companies can scale faster and build more enduring platforms,” said Carbon CEO; Mr Chijioke Dozie.

In 2019 more than 50% of startup funding in Africa went to fintech firms despite the abundance of opportunities that exist in other sectors.

Carbon’s Disrupt fund has been developed to tackle this head on, making it easier for entrepreneurs across all sectors to access the funds. And support they need to establish their solutions and achieve their business objectives. The fund will also provide mentorship, access to Carbon’s customers and payment platform.

Carbon is accepting applications from companies with operations in Uganda, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Cote d’Ivoire and Egypt.

Startups looking to apply (LINK TO APPLY) for the fund must have a functioning product, post revenue and looking to operate in multiple countries.

The fund has a wide investment mandate but target sectors include insurance, health, education which have not seen as much investment as the fintech space.

Carbon is a four year old fintech company that has amassed 2.1 million users. The company disbursed more than USD$63.7 million (approx. UGX233.7 billion) in loans in 2019 and processed more than USD$140 million (approx. UGX513.6 billion) in transactions.

In Dec. of 2019, the company announced its expansion into the Kenyan market, as well as its Carbon for Business platform which provides startups, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and Fintechs with access to uncollateralized credit, secure online payments, reliable funds transfer and fast KYC (know your customer) compliance obligations.

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The pitch competition is only open to African tech-enabled startups operating in any field. Only startups less than five years old with at least a MVP ideally with existing traction, raised less than USD$1 million in external funding, and have a current “ask” — are eligible for the competition.

The focus of the Africa Startup Summit is encouraging collaboration, engagement, interactive problem-solving, and creating connections between investors, corporates, stakeholders and startups.

The three day technology summit will not only feature the Startup Summit, but also feature The Future Summit and The Money & Blockchain Summit.

The three summits will explore the latest trends, connect digital leaders, tech corporates, investors, regulators, startups, creatives media(s), leading tech ventures, among others — from across Africa over an action-packed three days of insight, networking and entertainment.

The post Ten Startups to be Selected to Pitch at the 2020 Africa Startup Summit appeared first on PC Tech Magazine.

The finalists traveled to Switzerland where they attended a 2 day bootcamp. After the bootcamp, 12 startups were selected for the final pitch and being crowned the winner of this year’s competition. Out of the 12 finalists, 3 were African startups i.e. Bluewave Insurance Agency (Kenya), Benefactors (Rwanda), and Cowtribe (Ghana).

The 12 finalists will pitch to a panel of select judge at the SwissTech Convention Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland – where the overall winner shall be announced and receives a USD$500,000 in equity investment.

On to top-up on the USD $500,000 prize, Seedstars partnered with Enel Green Power (Renewable Energy), BBVA Open Talent (FinTech), Merck (Health), HEG Fribourg & TRECC (Education), and Tag Heuer (Women entrepreneurs) to provide mentoring and financial support in their selected works.

Bluewave Insurance Agency – Kenya
The startup is creating innovative mass markets, microinsurance products accessible via mobile phones.

Benefactors – Rwanda
Helping SMEs manage their cash flow by offering tailored factoring services, thus increasing SMEs’ growth and creating new job opportunities.

Cowtribe – Ghana
The first last-mile animal vaccine delivery platform in Africa. Founded in 2016, it safely delivers the vaccines to farmers in the remote area

The post Three African Startups Make Finalists for the 2019 Seedstars Global Competition appeared first on PC Tech Magazine.

65 global finalists are to compete for the crown of Seedstar and a cash prize of USD$500, 000 (approx. UGX1.8 billion).

Uganda will be represented by Agro Supply Uganda Limited. An AgricTech startup that has developed a unique mobile layaway platform that allows farmers to save money for the seeds and fertilizer using their mobile phone. The team is led by Ogwal Joseph; Founder and Chief Executive of the startup.

As we speak the teams are already in Switzerland were the final pitches will be held. Winners are to be announced on Friday 5^th, April 2019. Overall winner receives a USD$500,000 in equity investment.

On to top-up on the USD $500,000 prize, Seedstars partnered with Enel Green Power (Renewable Energy), BBVA Open Talent (FinTech), Merck (Health), HEG Fribourg & TRECC (Education), and Tag Heuer (Women entrepreneurs) to provide mentoring and financial support in their selected works.

African startups dominate as winners of this competition with two winning startups; Giraff (South Africa – 2016) and Agrocenta (Ghana 2018). In 2017 a Philippine startup won the competition.

The 2019 African participants are;

The Seedstars Africa Summit is designed to facilitate meaningful discussions about topics that range from the policies designed to support entrepreneurship in the country and the region to the success factors and improvement opportunities of the African tech scene.

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The finalists will compete in a grand pitch contest to be held at the Global Education and Skills Forum (GESF) from March 22nd to 24th, 2019 in Dubai. The 30 selected finalists will take part in three days of pitching, networking and EdTech focused discussions — where only 12 startups will be selected to pitch again. Out of the 12 startups, 6 startups will be selected where only 3 will emerge winners and each will be given a cash prize of USD$25,000 (roughly UGX92.3 million).

The overall winner is awarded the Next Billion EdTech Prize trophy.

The African startups selected as finalists include; Etudesk (Cote D’ Ivoire), PraxiLabs (Egypt), LangBot (Ethiopia), Eneza Education (Kenya), eLimu (Kenya), M-Shule (Kenya), ScholarX (Nigeria), Zelda (South Africa), Ubongo (Tanzania), and Mtabe (Tanzania).

Vikas Pota, Chairman of the Varkey Foundation and Group CEO of Tmrw Digital—which runs the Next Billion Prize, in a press statement, said African entrepreneurs are leading the pack in innovating for education and it’s time the world took notice.

“I believe we’re about to witness a huge surge in education innovation in Africa, not least in mobile learning. It’s no surprise that 10 of our 30 finalists are African, and our hope is that through competing for the Next Billion Prize, the world will see the range of education innovation happening right now on the continent,” said Vikas.

Notably, Chatterbox a U.K-based an online language school powered by refugees, won the first Next Billion Prize with Dot learn (Nigeria), and TeachMeNow (UAE) coming in second and third positions respectively. Each startup recived a cash prize of USD$25,000 (roughly UGX92.3 million).

Chatterbox harnesses the wasted talent of refugees, offering them work as on-line and in-person language tutors. Based in the UK, where there is a language skills shortage estimated to cost the economy 48 billion Pounds every year, Chatterbox counts several UK universities and major non-profits and corporations among its clients.

The Next Billion EdTech Prize is an initiative of Varkey Foundation — that is owned by an Indian entrepreneur and education philanthropist, Sunny Varkey.

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10 promising startups will be given the chance to take to the stage before an audience of over 400+ investors, corporate partners, accelerators and media to pitch their products. In addition, they’ll also have the opportunity to attend the rest of the event—which features three summits, and take part in the wide variety of workshops, discussions and networking sessions.

Applications are open to African tech-enabled startups operating in any/all fields. However, applying, startups must be less than five years old, have at least a minimum viable product (MVP), ideally with existing traction, have raised less than USD$1 million (roughly UGX.3.8 billion) in external funding.

Disrupt Africa who have partnered with the Africa Tech Summit Kigali organizers are spear heading the Africa Startup Summit.

Gabriella Mulligan, Co-Founder at Disrupt Africa, in a press statement, said; “We’re excited to open up the main stage at Africa Startup Summit to the continent’s most promising startups and have them wow the audience. We’re constantly impressed by the innovative, impactful startups we meet across Africa on a daily basis, and we want to support them in getting their story out there. We hope the chance to Pitch Live at the Summit will help create the connections they need to grow.”

Applicants can FOLLOW LINK to apply not later than Jan. 11th, 2018. Applications to be reviewed on a rolling basis, and only successful applicants will be contacted.

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The search for promising startups begun from Maputo (Mozambique) on 15th June and 10th December in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). Each startup will represent its country in the finals come April 2019.

Before heading to Switzerland, all finalists are attending a 3-day Regional Summit in Tanzania from 11th to 13th Dec. Startups are participating a growth bootcamp where they will learn more about growth strategy and how to pitch. In addition the startups will also pitch to potential backers at an investor forum

They will then travel to Switzerland to meet other regional finalists from; Asia, Latin America, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and ECA for a chance to compete for the global award, USD$500,000 in equity investment and some unique growth opportunities.

Selected startups range from AgricTech, FinTech, eCommerce, Ride-hailing, among others.

The Seedstars Africa Summit is designed to facilitate meaningful discussions about topics that range from the policies designed to support entrepreneurship in the country and the region to the success factors and improvement opportunities of the African tech scene.[related-posts]

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The search for promising startups begun from Maputo (Mozambique) on 15th June and 10th December in Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). 18 African cities (Kampala inclusive) and one startup is chosen from each city to represent its country in the finals.

Before heading to Switzerland, regional finalists will meet at a Regional Summit that will be held in Tanzania later in December 13th. They will network with fellow competitors, as well as showcase their business ideas and products to business men & women, investors. In addition, receive mentorship as well.

They will then travel to Switzerland to meet other regional finalists from; Asia, Latin America, Middle East and North Africa (MENA), and ECA for a chance to compete for the global award, USD$500,000 in equity investment and some unique growth opportunities.

Selected startups range from AgricTech, FinTech, eCommerce, Ride-hailing, among others.

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