DEMO Africa reveals Africa's 40 best tech startups
Demo Africa has received about 400 applications out of which only 242 of them met the threshold for the adjudication. As per the report from DEMO Africa organizers, Nigeria, Kenya and Ghana recorded the highest number of startup submissions. Tanzania, South Africa and Ethiopia will each have two representatives while Tunisia, Benin, Cameroon, Uganda and Zimbabwe have earned their space at the DEMO Africa platform. The criterion for adjudication was the ability to link creativity, innovation, effectiveness and scalability. This year’s DEMO Africa 2014 is scheduled to take place between 22nd and 26th September at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria. The event is expected to attract top notch African investors.
But in a very tough and rigorous criteria DEMO Africa has announced the names of 40 startups that have qualified to launch their product on the DEMO Africa stage in September 2014. VC4Africa Founder Ben White observed, “The standard of applications continues to rise each year.”
DEMO Africa Executive Producer Harry Hare said, “We had really amazing entries this year, but unfortunately the DEMO Africa team can only accommodate 40 for now. The high number of entries is inspiring. It only shows that entrepreneurs have risen above the fear of venturing into new waters to create new products. This in itself shows that confidence levels in Africa-made solutions are steadily rising. I am confident that we will get to levels where we can generate solutions that can be applied globally.”
These 40 startups besides launching their startup at DEMO Africa will also benefit from the one-and-a-half month coaching and mentorship program to be spearheaded by DEMO Africa and the US State Department. The mentorship program will be coordinated by Dr. Susan Amat, CEO, VentureHive and will include both local and international mentors and coaches.
“This presents another opportunity for African tech startups. Africa may have missed out on the industrial revolution, but we will surely not miss the ICT revolution. Through innovation, we will put Nigeria and Africa in general on the ICT map. Realizing the huge potential of the software industry, we have put in place a set of initiatives that will assist the tech startups to create successful businesses, which will directly create jobs and wealth,” remarked Mrs Omobola Johnson, Nigeria Minister for Communication Technology.
As has been witnessed in the previous events, the September Participants registration is already open(EventBright). The secretariat has put together a special package for investor delegates which comprises: 15% discount on a DEMO Africa ticket, 15% discount on a VC4A Pro Account, Access to the companies' financials, Ticket to the Investor Cocktail on DEMO Africa's opening evening, Ticket to a special Investor Bootcamp as well as access to a special Investor Lounge and Deal Room at DEMO Africa.