North/East Africa This Week: Startup Event Glimpses [July 01-08, 2018]
The past week saw a number of notable events take place in both the North African and East African startup ecosystems. Both developing ecosystems seem to be witnessing something of an upturn in fortunes when it comes to unearthing some of the most promising green enterprises in their respective domains; a feat that is affording global exposure and opportunities to startups of African descent. And this notion is buoyed by the fact that several events aimed at providing the platform for upcoming entrepreneurs to pitch their business ideas and explore opportunities were held in the past week, with countries like Morocco and Zimbabwe seeing most of the action. Without any attempt at prioritizing, here is a quick run-down on some of the most notable entrepreneurship-focused events which took place in both Eastern/Northern Africa this past week.
DEMO Africa Innovation Tour Hosted In Casablanca
The Moroccan leg of DEMO Africa innovation competition for startups in selected cities across the continent took place in Morocco this past week. Having already seen winners emerge in prior editions of the competitions held Nairobi, Harare, Kampala, and Johannesburg, ii was time for North Africa to get in on the act and Casablanca was the destination for last week’s competition.
The event, which took place at Technopark on Wednesday, 4th July, 2018, showcased a total of 13 startups who pitched in front of a local panel of judges, with eHealth startup, Moldiag, emerging victorious in spite of the fierce competition offered by equally-promising enterprises such as Nuppio Learn, Interactive Rh, Break, and BIG4COM. in the aftermath of a final pitching round.
Moldiag is now expected to advance to the regional finals of the competition where they will battle the winners that will emerge from similar upcoming competitions that have been scheduled to take place in Cairo and Tunis.
As earlier reported by WeeTracker, after successful spells in Lagos, Nairobi, and Johannesburg, DEMO Africa’s main launchpad event is scheduled to hold in Morocco in October 2018; in what will be its first appearance in the North African region.
Seedstars World Held Its Startup Competition In Zimbabwe
Last week, Seedstars World arrived Harare for the Zimbabwean leg of its startup competition. Impact Hub Harare played host as online poultry farming startup, Rera, was named the winner of the competition, and the startup is now eligible to compete for up to USD 1 Mn in equity investment, in front of a global audience, at next year’s Seedstars Summit scheduled to hold in Switzerland.
With African winners having already emerged in both Egypt and Tunisia, Zimbabwe’s Rera has now made the cut, and the startup looks set to make the most of the opportunity. Vote Africa and Justice Today also received awards during the event in the best civic tech and best learner prize categories, respectively.
Seedstars Casablanca Held In Morocco
Staying true to its mission of furthering the growth of budding enterprises in developing countries, Seedstars returned to Casablanca for the Moroccan leg of the 6th edition of the Seedstars World Tour.
The event which was held at LaFactory on Friday, 6th July 2018, featured eight promising startups from the North African nation. The startups pitched in front of an esteemed panel of judges for a chance to follow in the footsteps of last edition’s winner, Hooplacar, and represent Morocco at next year’s Seedstars World Competition.
Amongst the eight startups that competed for the top spot were Weego, Zelij Invent, Valenvi, UnitedCoin, Tripblan SARL, Popaddress, Medtrucks, and Indatacore. The winner of the latest edition of the competition is expected to be announced shortly.
Image Credits: demo-africa.com, ventureburn.com, techpoint.ng
