Startups Archives - Page 19 of 20

24Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Events, Startups

Calling African Innovators: Solutions for Sustainable Living and Economic Development in Africa Sought

Appliance giant Defy to aid in the advancement of projects that ensure the sustainability of trade, natural resources, and life in Africa From 5 - 7 March 2021, leading manufacturer of home appliances, Defy, will be hosting the Hack The Normal online hackathon with the aim of exploring how technology can be leveraged for sustainable living and economic development in Africa. Supported by Defy sister company, Beko, hackathon participants will have the opportunity to develop new products, services, and business models with commercialisation potential to address one of the following challenge areas: Financial Solutions: With Africa rapidly becoming a key player in the global economy, the continent must prepare itself for a surge of commercial activity with all the supporting services nece...

Cape Town/Stockholm Connect Launches to Unlock Trade and Innovation Opportunities

22Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

Cape Town/Stockholm Connect Launches to Unlock Trade and Innovation Opportunities

The Silicon Cape Initiative, in partnership with Wesgro, the City of Cape Town, Invest Cape Town, The Loudhailer, Business Sweden and the Embassy of Sweden, recently came together to launch Cape Town/Stockholm Connect. The Connect platform will bring together companies, developers, customers, investors, entrepreneurs, and institutions from across Cape Town and Stockholm via a series of activities. The project is set to run for the next three years, with the overarching goal of strengthening ties and facilitating bilateral collaboration between Sweden and South Africa. The launch event featured speakers sharing their insights about the startup landscape in both Stockholm and Cape Town together with the opportunities offered by each city. Kicking off the proceedings and setting the stage for...

HAVAÍC expects bumper year for African tech startups

18Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

HAVAÍC expects bumper year for African tech startups

As one of South Africa’s most active Venture Capital investors, HAVAÍC says 2020 saw the commercial adoption of technology increase at unprecedented rates, as illustrated by the performance of HAVAÍC and its portfolio companies. 2020 saw HAVAÍC’s portfolio companies grow their revenue by a staggering 93%, and in the coming months, Ian Lessem, Managing Partner at HAVAÍC, believes the economic, social and commercial prospects for investing in the African technology sector looks promising, especially as the acceleration of technology adoption continues. According to the recent African Tech Startups Funding Report 2020, published by Disrupt Africa, the year produced a record for funding activity in the African tech startup ecosystem, owing to the increased number of active investors on the con...

R500k up for grabs in the 2021 Joburg Smart City Innovation Challenge

16Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

South Africa News, Startups

R500k up for grabs in the 2021 Joburg Smart City Innovation Challenge

Are you a 4IR Start-up? Have you been in operation for 3-7 years? Are you a company developing Smart City technologies and/or innovative solutions? Do you have a pilot-ready solution for a challenge faced by our city? The City of Johannesburg’s Smart City Office, in collaboration with Tshimologong Innovation Precinct, invites you to submit proposals for smart city innovative solutions in response to the Covid-19 pandemic and to share your innovative ideas on how we can go into the future together. The lockdown protocols have ignited new thinking about the future of our City and its residents. Therefore, the aim of the Smart City Innovation Challenge is to find and develop digital technology solutions that respond to urban and community challenges faced by the City in the new normal result...

N’Gunu Tiny on Why social entrepreneurship supports local communities throughout Africa

9Feb

By Veselina DzhingarovaNo Comments

Business, Ghana News, Kenya News, Mauritius News, Nigeria News, Sierra Leone, Startups, Tanzania News

N’Gunu Tiny on Why social entrepreneurship supports local communities throughout Africa

Transformative tech and social innovation expert N’Gunu Tiny talks about how social entrepreneurship helps communities in Africa. N’Gunu Tiny, Founder and Executive Chairman of the Emerald Group, is an expert in transformative tech and social innovation. His book Impacting Lives will be published in Fall 2021. Before the pandemic, Africa was surging ahead with local and national developments across all sectors. And COVID-19 isn’t slowing the emergence of social entrepreneurship that is creating ways out of poverty and empowering Africa’s people. From technology to healthcare, grassroots organisations and local communities are fighting to improve local economies. Social entrepreneurship is the key to encouraging this level of development throughout the continent. Social entrepreneurship is...

Cape Town and Stockholm: Two of the World’s Leading Tech Hubs Connect to Support Startups

3Feb

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Startups

Cape Town and Stockholm: Two of the World’s Leading Tech Hubs Connect to Support Startups

On Wednesday, 10 February 2021, Stockholm - the birthplace of fast-growing tech companies like Skype, Spotify and Klarna - will be joining forces with Cape Town, Africa’s Tech Capital and home to startups such as Aerobotics, SweepSouth and Sea Monster, to launch Cape Town / Stockholm Connect (CSC). This is a platform that will bring together companies, developers, customers, investors, entrepreneurs, and institutions from across Cape Town and Stockholm via a series of activities. It will also serve as a meeting point and provide participants with well-organised matchmaking opportunities and company visits while also supporting individual requests. The launch event will feature a diverse group of speakers sharing their insights about the startup landscape in both South Africa and Sweden. T...

29Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Startups

Workshop 17 Wins Global Startup Award – Competition expands across Africa

On the 27th of January 2021, the winners of the 2019 season of the Global Startup Awards (GSA) were announced at the Global Grand Finale Day. Bringing home an Award to Africa was Workshop17, which scooped Best Coworking Space in the world’s largest independent startup ecosystem competition. On outshining the other finalists from around the world, Paul Keursten, Co-Founder and CEO of Workshop17 says: “We are thrilled to be a winner of such an established, global competition. It is a recognition for our vision to be a platform for entrepreneurship and innovation, and a tribute to the whole South African ecosystem of start-ups and innovator.” Western Cape Premier, Alan Winde shares: "I am very proud of Workshop17's win in the Global Startup Awards. Over the past year, we have seen tradition...

Ventures Platform Foundation launches applications for Gov Labs

10Jan

By Africa BusinessNo Comments

Nigeria News, Startups

Ventures Platform Foundation launches applications for Gov Labs

VPF & National Endowment for Democracy call for tech solutions to protect Nigerians’ human rights during COVID-19 response Ventures Platform Foundation (VPF), the social impact arm of Ventures Platform Hub, has launched a call for applications for its latest incubation programme, Gov Labs - a 12-week programme for tech solutions implementing accountability and transparency within the Nigerian government’s COVID-19 response. Created with support from the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), the new initiative will support Civil Society Organizations from across Nigeria as they build innovative solutions promoting good governance and wide scale access to public services. From the pool of applicants, five organisations will be selected and will each receive a $2,500 grant as well as ac...

Development Trend of African Startups and Fintech

3Dec

By Shahina ParvinNo Comments

Fintech, Kenya News, South Africa News, Startups

Development Trend of African Startups and Fintech

Africa is a land of opportunity long neglected. It is unique and the diversity in cultures may make it difficult for something new to be accepted in society. However, the scenario has changed and African markets have started to gain attention from the past couple of years. Therefore, we can see the rise of African startups as regions progress with time accepting change. Consequently, poverty is going down and the African society promises a safe future and a solid education system for generations to come. Amidst this progress, the number of fintech companies in South Africa is emerging at a rather very fast pace. As the country is starting to embrace digital payment and banking systems instead of the traditional banking system, it has become easy for African tech startups to grab a hold of ...

The Gender Equity Track: Searching for 500 African Female-Led Startups

15Nov

By SeedstarsNo Comments

Startups

The Gender Equity Track: Searching for 500 African Female-Led Startups

About the Gender Equity Track Every year since 2013, Seedstars runs its renowned Seedstars World Competition, gathering the most promising startups from over 90 emerging markets for the ultimate prize of up to USD 500,000 in equity investment. The objective of the Gender Equity Track is to drive gender-inclusive training opportunities and catalyse more investment for female founders in Sub-Saharan Africa. The Gender Equity Track consists of the following key components: 1) Gender Lens Training 2) Gender Lens Investment and 3) Gender-Balanced Representation. The Gender Equity Track was piloted after a 2018 analysis showed that from the 5’000 applications the Seedstars World competition received the previous year in 2017, only 14% were female-led businesses, and only 3% of women applica...