Startup Africa in Cape Town, organized by Africa 2.0 in the margin of the World
Economic Forum on Africa, concluded on Saturday 11 May. During the finale
ambitious South African entrepreneurs gathered to present their Start-up
business ideas, after an intensive three day planning and refining marathon.
Startup Africa was subsequently featured on SABC.Funded by Denmark, the Startup Africa event in Cape Town provided three days of mentoring and incubation fundamentals to sixty South African entrepreneurs, selected from a thousand applicants. At the end of the event, the entrepreneurs competed to pitch their business ideas to a panel of expert judges, including Alan Knott-Craig, former CEO of Mixit and Ezra Ndwandwe of “The Big Break Legacy” TV program.
Danish Ambassador to South Africa, René Dinesen,
said of the Danish engagement:
“We are very happy to be a part of Startup Africa. Denmark considers job creation vital for Africans in both South Africa and on the rest of the African continent. Denmark knows that modern Africa is a dynamic continent, full of ambitious young people eager to work hard for a better life, and as a nation, Denmark would like to help Africa harness this immense potential by promoting entrepreneurship and innovation.”
“We are very happy to be a part of Startup Africa. Denmark considers job creation vital for Africans in both South Africa and on the rest of the African continent. Denmark knows that modern Africa is a dynamic continent, full of ambitious young people eager to work hard for a better life, and as a nation, Denmark would like to help Africa harness this immense potential by promoting entrepreneurship and innovation.”
Startup Africa received coverage from
over twenty media houses and had in attendance representatives from key venture
capital firms, seed investors and business incubators. Africa 2.0 organizer
Clement Banjo and one of the winning start-ups, Cosmesis Medical, was
subsequently featured on SABC Morning Live [Youtube 6:26].
 |
| An entrepreneur presenting his idea at Startup Africa |
The winning start-up ideas presented by the attending entrepreneurs were:
-
"Cosmesis Medical": Manufacturing of medical prostheses restoring dignity and confidence to patients.
"No bull”: A web device allowing checking of accuracy and reliability of information from internet websites. -
"Credit crunch": A cloud data sourcing mobile application enhancing credit worthiness and financial literacy for loan applicants, both individuals and SMEs, across Africa.
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"Android Live TV": An Android based mobile device providing more than 100 live TV channels and high speed internet access on TV screens, for low and middle-income bracket individuals.
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"Ace": Manufacturing of globally competitive and affordable cricket bats
Africa 2.0 collected comments from the audience and judges
during and after the event:
“Ground breaking initiative" - Allan
knott Craig Jr, former CEO of Mxit.
"World-class, Africa's got amazing talents” - Ezra Ndwandwe, founder of “The Big Break legacy”
"Very
well done" - Geoff Rotschild, Johannesburg Stock
Exchange
“Thank you for arranging the event and for making the future look
brighter. I am currently in contact with one of the investors I meet during the
event and he is looking into my business as a possible investor” - Bruce Sandman, attending entrepreneur.
Source: Denmark in South Africa
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