Five African start-ups emerged victorious in the first leg of the AfricArena Tour 2024, securing coveted positions to compete at the grand finale scheduled for December in Cape Town.
The AfricArena Deep Tech & AI, Enterprise, and Green Economy Summit, held recently in Johannesburg, provided a platform for 14 African tech start-ups to engage in pitch battles aimed at raising funds to accelerate their development and scaling of solutions.
Winning Start-ups and Awards
- OUR Space: Co-founded by Sanelisiwe Njobe from South Africa, received the Best Deep Tech and AI Start-up Award.
- Kaloola: Represented by Eben Mbhele of South Africa, received the Best Green Economy Start-up Award.
- Boardroom: From South Africa, co-founded by Serisha Barrat, received the Best Enterprise Start-up Award.
- Empiras Global Academy: Co-founded by Gugu and Lulu Ntuli from South Africa, received the Best FemTech Start-up Award.
- Shamba Pride: Founded by Samuel Munguti, received the Most Promising Entrepreneur Award.
Support for Winners: Each winning start-up was awarded 25,000 AWS Activate Credits to support their further growth and development.
AfricArena’s Perspective
Christophe Viarnaud, CEO and co-founder of AfricArena, expressed admiration for the exceptional quality of start-ups showcased during the Johannesburg edition. He highlighted Africa’s emergence as a global leader in the tech and investment ecosystem, emphasizing the importance of collaboration and innovation for continued success.
Investment Landscape
Discussions during the event addressed various aspects of the continent’s tech start-up scene, including a decrease in investment in African start-ups to $2.4 billion in 2023. Despite this, Africa’s economic development is projected to outpace global growth this year.
Event Hosts
The summit was co-hosted by several prominent organizations, including the African Venture Capital Association (AVCA), AWS Startups, Technology Innovation Agency, Silicon Overdrive, and Methys. It was held concurrently with the annual AVCA conference and the Venture Capital Summit.
The success of the AfricArena event underscores the growing significance of Africa’s tech and investment ecosystem, providing a platform for promising start-ups to showcase their innovations and secure support for future growth and development.
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