Demo Africa is here again and it is another opportunity for Nigerian startups to pitch for investment with other Africa startups. As you probably know, last year was very exciting for Nigerian startups scene. One of the Nigerian startups who pitched at the event – Maliyo game – was one of the 5 winners of DEMO Africa 2012. Our appetite for success has been wet already based on last year performance and we expect more from the 4 startups – ChopUp, RAMP, OTGPlaya and Save & Buy – that will be representing Nigeria at this year event. We will be bringing you more information about each of the startups and the pitch event in subsequent posts.
The Nigerian contingents will join 36 other startups to pitch at the DEMO 2013 event in Nairobi Kenya. Like last year, 5 startups are expected to emerge as winners. According to the organisation of the event, there were about 300 applications and the 40 finalists were selected after 3 rigorous screening processes with the final vetting and selection done by a pan-African panel of judges comprising entrepreneurs, VCs and Academia. The judges included Dele Akinsade, Martin Butler, Rebecca Enonchong, Louis Fourie, Stephen Gugu, Ally Hussein, Muchiri Nyaggah, Kevin Schuster, Toby Shapshak, Moses Sitati, Anthony Stonefield, and Hesham Wahby.
Kenya and Egypt Dominate the List As Expected
Applications were received from ventures covering five different categories which include Mobile Technology, Social Media, Consumer Products, Cloud Services and Enterprise Technologies. Kenya and South Africa take a big chunk of the 40 finalists whereas Egypt and Nigeria come third and fourth respectively. One key finding this year was the strong representation by North African startups from Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. Other countries represented in the finalists include South Africa, Ghana, Uganda, Ethiopia, Cameroon, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.
And the Nigerian Contigents…
- ChopUp, lead Bayo Puddicombe, is a social platform that connects mobile device gamers across Africa and allows them to interact based on achievements and transferable points.
- OTGPlaya – Mojisola – is an affordable platform solution that brings “accessibility” to critically underserved sectors.
- RAMP – Tunde Aguda – is a new innovative web app developed to simplify the management process of Resident Associations in Nigeria or anywhere in the world.
- Save & Buy – Hugo Obi – is a web and mobile platform that enables anyone save towards any item they desire in an easy to use, fun and safe environment.
If you are interested in attending the pitch event in Nairobi, Kenya, on 24 -25 October 2013, click here.
About Demo Africa
DEMO Africa is the flagship initiative of the Liberating Innovation in Opportunity Nations or LIONS@FRICA partnership, an innovative new partnership aimed at enhancing and deepening startup and innovation ecosystems of fast-growing African economies.LIONS@FRICA brings together the U.S. State Department, Microsoft, Nokia, InfoDEV, the African Development Bank, the U.S. Agency for International Development, DEMO, Startup Weekend, Global Innovation through Science and Technology (GIST), Venture Capital for Africa, Appfrica, Business Action for Africa, Business Fights Poverty, and the Global Entrepreneurship Week to support and amplify Africa’s budding startup and innovation ecosystem.
