Three African Startups Win $50k Each at MEST Africa Challenge Final

Three African startups including Ghana’s Oze, Kenya’s WayaWaya and SA’s Snode Technologies — have each won $50 000 in equity investments at the MEST Africa Challenge final.

In addition, MEST Africa, which runs a pan-African entrepreneurial training programme, seed fund, and incubator — said in a statement that the three will each also receive $25 000 in credit from Microsoft.

Oze is a business insights engine which aims to assist business owners to make data-driven decisions that will improve their performance and access to capital.

WayaWaya provides fintech solutions that include payments, fund transfers and group savings. This, while Snode Technologies provides real-time cybersecurity to individuals and businesses.

The finals were held during the fourth MEST Africa Summit which kicked off on Monday (10 June) and ended on Wednesday (12 June) in Nairobi.

Unable to agree on which #MAS2019 startup had the potential to make the biggest impact on the continent and beyond, the judges named @Snode_Tech, @oze, and @wayawayaltd all winners of $50k investment each and support from our sponsor @Microsoft. Congratulations and well done! pic.twitter.com/KLlPyP2D1Y

— MEST Africa (@MESTAfrica) June 11, 2019

The event saw entrepreneurs, investors, members of the tech community and executives from across Africa and the globe meet to explore innovations and rising stars in the African tech ecosystem. MEST said the event was attended by over 300 people.

Panelists discussed topics ranging from data in the fintech space to the latest in agritech and healthcare, to ways we can cultivate a pan-African tech community and more.

The summit featured keynotes from speakers who included: MEST Founder Jorn Lyseggen, Microsoft’s Chris Lwanga and Lori’s Josh Sandler, Bitange Ndemo, Philip Thigo, TLcom partner Andreata Muforo, Africa’s Talking CEO Bilha Ndirangu, Carbon co-founder Ngozi Dozie, as well as representatives from Google Launchpad, Safaricom and the African Development Bank.

Commenting in the same statement, MEST Africa managing director Aaron Fu said the summit serves as a reminder of what Africa can achieve with the right blend of talent and experience.

Said Fu: “We started this with the aim of creating a space for honest discussions on how the continent can continue to move forward and markets can come together. My personal hope is that we continue to see this grow and that more collaborations across markets take shape.”