For some 70 startups from across the African continent, today is a big day. The day they get to present their businesses in front of Africa and the world for a chance to not just get funding, but also get noticed by investors, buyers, and partners. And it is all happening today and tomorrow at the AfricArena conference in Cape Town.
This will be a second year run for AfricArena, which pits startups from across the continent to compete in front of an audience of investors from both local and international scene. The 2018 theme of the competition is Smart City, Smart Agri, Smart Commerce, Smart Skills, Smart Media, and Smart Travel.
The 70 startups in this competition are drawn from 30 countries across the continent, and they will all be competing to secure the 11 open innovation challenges. The competition will include a hackathon on a mobility challenge within the City of Cape Town.
In attendance will be over 100 international investors drawn from the US, Europe, and Africa. There will also be a huge following online as the event will live stream all the pitch sessions.
“Hosting prestigious events such as AfricArena is important in endorsing the Cape as the tech capital of Africa. The event is expecting over 100 investors, with Naspers Ventures being among those confirmed,” said the Wesgro CEO, Tim Harris.
“Our investment promotion team has helped land over ZAR1 billion ($70 million) in investment in the Cape tech sector over the last five years – as the gateway to the rest of Africa, we hope we can be a conduit to facilitating more investment into the Africa tech startup scene.”
