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First Round of DEMO Africa 2016 Identifies 131 Startups

by Milicent Atieno
First Round of DEMO Africa 2016 Adjudication Identifies 131 Startups

DEMO Africa, one of the leading platforms for pitch for startups emanating from across the African continent, has kicked off its 2016 campaign. The first adjudication round has identified a total of 131 startups from both within the continent and outside.

DEMO Africa 2016 Applications per Country

There were over 723 applications received for the DEMO Africa 2016, out of which met the threshold set by the judges. This year’s applications were from 46 countries, up from 26 countries received in 2015, with Nigeria leading with some 217 application, followed by Kenya 154 and South Africa 104.

Other countries were Uganda (23), Cameroon (17), Ghana (16), Zimbabwe (14), Egypt (12), Tanzania (12), Ivory Coast (8), Ethiopia (7), Rwanda (6) and Zambia (6). There were also submissions from Africans in the diaspora, with those in the United States sending 15 applications, and 4 more from Belgium.

Non-African Entrepreneurs selected

The event is not an all-Africans event, as there were also application from countries outside Africa including, Afghanistan, Costa Rica, Netherlands, United Arab Emirate and South Korea.

Harry Hare, the Executive Director of DEMO Africa, has this to say: “We are very excited at the response we received from the startups and startup owners. This goes to show how DEMO Africa is becoming a critical piece of the entrepreneurship development agenda in the continent.”

Next round of Adjudication

The next round of adjudication will sieve this group of 131 startups to have just the top 50 best startups among them. The third round will sieve even further to remain with just 30 most promising startups. It is the final 30 startups, which will be given a chance to pitch at the DEMO Africa platform set to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa on August 25 and 26 this year.

DEMO Africa Event Director, Mbugua Njihia added, “We have developed a 3 tier adjudication process that makes sure we have the companies with the highest potential to have the opportunity to launch their business and products at the DEMO Africa platform.”

The 131 startups will be vetted further until a final team of top 30 best startups are identified sometime in the first week of July. You will be certain Innov8tiv will be in the frontline of letting you know who and from where makes the top 30 DEMO Africa 2016 list.

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