Thirty startups from a record 956 digital startups across Africa have been selected to take part in DEMO Africa.
DEMO Africa is one of the flagship initiatives of LIONS@frica and aims to connect African startups to the global ecosystem. DEMO Africa is the place where the most innovative companies from African countries get a platform to launch their products and announce to Africa and the world what they have developed.
The initiative also allows start-ups from all over Africa to meet VCs, investors, tech acquisition specialists, IT buyers and media from across the region and around the globe. The Start-ups are given an opportunity to launch their products to a tech eco-system under the following categories: Agriculture, Health, Education, Manufacturing, Retail, Media and Entertainment, Communication, Transport and Logistics, Energy, Finance and Banking, Water and Sanitation, Waste Management and Recycling.
The catalyst event for emerging technologies in Africa will take place in Johannesburg fromNovember 23 to 24.
Out of the 30 startups selected, South Africa is represented by eight startups, Nigeria by seven, Kenya six, and Ghana and Zimbabwe by two each. Cameroon, Uganda, Morocco, Tanzania and Senegal make up the remaining five with one startup each.
The South African startups selected for the event are SeeBox producer K Measure, Picadoo, Spazapp, Tapsnapp, Airbuy, FinChatBot, Intelligent Routing, and Rooster.
Nigeria is represented by Mobile Forms, Atele Advanced Solutions, Peachwater Consulting, Suvenia, Medsaf, Pepperest, and GoSpot.
The Kenyan startups on the list are Chimera IoT, Shield Enterprise, ZOA Tech, Daktari Africa, Taz Technologies and Optimetriks, with Ghana represented by Bisa and KudiGo, and Zimbabwe represented by Dadala and DrCADx.
A-Trader (Tanzania), Temateq (Cameroon), JokkoText (Senegal), SOS Sante (Morocco) and Sellio (Uganda) complete the shortlist.
According to Harry Hare, DEMO Africa executive producer, “The entries this year certainly kept up with the DEMO Africa spirit to produce innovative and creative ideas that are bound to transform the technology landscape and we are excited by the growth of innovation and technological advancement in Africa as portrayed by our finalists.”
The 30 companies have products in 10 verticals, including logistics, retail, e-commerce, education, fintech, media, renewable energy and health.
“The adjudication process involved a review of the documentation submitted by the startups, a review of their online properties, and testing some of the applications that are online, But the judges also look at the innovation, viability and the product-market fit,” said event director Mbugua Njihia.
It is worth knowing that in just two years of running, the DEMO African alumni have generated over $8 million in either investment, business or partnerships from the unique mix of positioning, opportunity (networking, fundraising), training and exposure that our launch pad offers.
