Inaugural Global Startup Awards Africa Summit Promises to Put Pan-African Startups Front and Centre

Global Startup Awards Africa regional winners from across the continent with world changing UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDG)- aligned solutions will come together for the first ever Global Startup Awards Africa Summit in Cape Town on the 14th and 15th June.

Hosted by the Global Innovation Initiative Group (GIIG), the event is a culmination of a 6-month long process of extensive and rigorous research, networking, and collaborations across the globe, with the aim of finding Africa’s most promising innovators.

With the help of 30 Country Partners, 50 Ambassadors and 250 innovation hubs, the Global Startup Awards Africa found close to 8000 startups and ecosystem actors from 54 African countries with solutions to addressing 12 of the 17 identified SDGs.

With a cohort of 215 independent industry expert jury members, the nominated startups and ecosystem enablers went through three rounds of judging and two rounds of public voting, which then narrowed down the search to 500 country winners, 60 regional winners and finally 12 continental winners that were announced virtually, earlier this year.

Jo Griffiths, co-Founder of GIIG Africa, comments, “We have been incredibly impressed with the calibre of startups and the phenomenal world changing solutions they have created; we cannot wait to showcase them on the stage at this inaugural event. We remain committed to Find, Fund and Grow Africa’s next generation of technologies which are solving some of the world’s greatest challenges”. 

Through this active engagement of startups, participants were surveyed, and invaluable data collected, which allowed the organisation to unequivocally get to the core of what specific needs and challenges are faced by African startups. By hosting this event the Global Startup Awards Africa Summit can facilitate honest and forthright conversations to address not only the day-to-day business challenges effecting industry disruptors and innovators, but the immediate needs of climate change and the planet.

The winners will have the opportunity to present and workshop with industry experts, corporates, policy makers, global family offices, institutions and UHNWI’s who are seeking to invest SDG-aligned technologies from Africa. 

With only a select number of delegate tickets available, the event promises to put the startups front and centre with top stakeholders in African innovation, with the focus on connecting ecosystem players and enabling impact through meaningful panel discussions, highly curated matchmaking, and deal flow sessions, thereby facilitating pan-African, global trade and investment opportunities for tech startups across the continent.

The summit is supported by stakeholders such as the South Africa National Convention Bureau, the City of Cape Town, and the Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), whose collective vision is to position Cape Town as the tech capital of the future. 

Amanda Kotze-Nhlapo, Chief Convention Bureau Officer at South Africa National Convention Bureau, comments: “Business events, particularly intra-African meetings, incentives, conventions and exhibitions, play a significant role in the post-pandemic recovery plan. With Cape Town’s positioning as Africa's ‘Tech Capital’, it makes complete sense for us to look at business events such as the Inaugural Global Startup Awards Africa Summit to promote our knowledge economy to a new audience of innovators and investors throughout the continent and beyond. But most importantly, we want to support conferences such as this by creating shared value for SMMEs through business events. We believe the Global Startup Awards Africa  Summit is not just ticking the destination marketing box, but rather, making a significant impact on the local economy by hosting this impressive group of global partners, investors, thought leaders and African innovators.”

Day 1 will see speakers, panellists and startups tackle the topics such as:

·            The future of startup funding: what works? what’s next?

·            Mega trends: the emerging trends we are seeing on the continent (Health, Climate, Financial Inclusion)

·            Building global bridges: how to access new markets

·            Talent spotting: bridging knowledge gaps and addressing the complexities of team management

·            Alternative investments models: profit and purpose; gender smart investing

·            Future of blockchain and the metaverse for existing startups

·            And so much more!

This will conclude with a startup showcase and gala dinner to celebrate the impact and successes the startups have had to date.

Day 2 will provide a thinktank for deal flow, workshops, and matchmaking, for invited guests and sponsors.

CEO of the Cape Town International Convention Centre, Taubie Motlhabane, comments: “We are very proud to host this incredible event which aims to make an invaluable impact on startups across the African continent. One of our key pillars as an organisation is to facilitate strategic partnerships across Africa with a core focus on innovation. The inaugural Global Startup Awards Africa Summit is the perfect pan-African platform to highlight not only the challenges, but also the triumphs of innovators representing all 55 African countries.”