Southern Africa This Week: Startup Events Glimpses [22nd-28th October, 2018]
A number of notable startup events aimed at fostering entrepreneurial growth were successfully held in the Southern African startup ecosystem in the past week. From award ceremonies to pitching competitions, the region’s ecosystem was abuzz with activities. And here are highlights from some of these events.
Solution Space Pitch Night: Digital Solutions Held In South Africa
This event was aimed at providing a platform for entrepreneurs to practice pitching their startup to local angel investors and be put in the know as per the latest trends in the world of tech entrepreneurship. The event was held on Tuesday, 23rd October 2018, at the UCT School of Business in Cape Town.
The theme of this month’s edition was Digital Solutions. Startups building towards a digital Africa were invited to pitch to a panel of industry experts which included Chris Steyn of BytMoney, Elli Yiannakaris of Raymond Ackerman Academy, Jalal Ghiassi-Razavi; a South African Bitcoin ICO Lead. The participating startups had the opportunity to pitch in front of the panel and get feedback, as well as network and connect with other entrepreneurs and industry players.
MEST Africa Soap-Box Session With AlphaCode Was Held In South Africa
MEST Incubator Cape Town and AlphaCode collaborated to bring this event into fruition. The event was an opportunity for startup founders to stand on a “soap-box” and tell attendees what their businesses are all about. It also afforded startups the chance to connect and network with the tech community. This month’s edition of the event took place on Friday, 26th October 2018, at the MEST Incubator in Cape Town, and it had a number of tech teams, entrepreneurs, and industry players in attendance.
South African Finals Of The Southern Africa Startup Awards (SASA) Held
The Southern Africa Startup Awards – South Africa, in collaboration with Startup Grind Johannesburg, hosted the national startup ecosystem to an event tagged: #StartupSuperHeroes. This event was aimed at selecting winners in different categories who will go on to represent South Africa at the grand finale of the regional Southern Africa Startup Awards slated for next month.
The Southern Africa Startup Awards is a circuit of Global Startup Awards, which is a social enterprise that puts together an annual event to select and award those within the regional tech/web ecosystems that have displayed remarkable prowess through the achievement of outstanding achievements in business and service to the community.
This year’s event took place on Wednesday, October 24th 2018, at The Bird House in Johannesburg. It featured welcome addresses, keynote speeches, panel discussions, awards, networking, and light refreshments.
Emerging Ideas Pitch Night Held In Zimbabwe
The date was Thursday, 25th October 2018 and the Bulawayo Auditorium of Celebration Church in Zimbabwe was the venue. This monthly event brought together early-stage innovators and startup business owners under one roof as they took to the stage to pitch their ideas.
Emerging Ideas Pitch Night afforded three startups the opportunity to present their ideas in 4 to 6 minutes in a concise and straight-to-the-point manner. There was also an arrangement which allowed the community to engage with the entrepreneurs and ask them questions that have connections with the promotion, encouragement, and acceleration of their respective enterprises.
Image Credits: @GoExploreTrave1 via Twitter
