Kenyan incubator iHub has announced a partnership with US incubator 1776 to co-host a Nairobi-based chapter of the Challenge Cup 2015 startup competition.
Participants in the Challenge Cup – a global competition spanning 16 cities in 11 countries – compete for $650,000 in prizes as well as the chance to meet with investors and industry experts.
Startups are divided into four categories – education, energy, health, and cities – with the hosts saying applicants should be “compelling, world changing, and highly scalable”, and that entrants should “aim to make tangible differences in people’s lives, not just build the hottest new app”.
The Nairobi event is to take place on January 22, 2015.
“We’re immensely excited about the opportunity to partner with iHub to host the challenge cup in Nairobi, a city whose vibrant startup community is driving transformative change both within Kenya, Africa and far beyond,” said 1776 co-founder Evan Burfield.
“This competition is about identifying the African region’s most promising startups and connecting them to the mentorship and resources they need to achieve their full promise,” said Burfield.
“We’re thrilled to work with 1776 to bring the Challenge Cup to Nairobi, where entrepreneurial drive and creativity have produced an innovation movement that is making change and creating opportunity across Kenya and around the world,” said Josiah Mugambi, Executive Director of iHub.
“iHub is helping to cultivate a community of startups with the potential to drive innovations that positively change our world, and the Challenge Cup will be an important opportunity for these startups to link to a global network that can help them grow and scale.”
In addition to Nairobi, Challenge Cup 2015 competitions will take place in 15 other locations including Washington D.C., Chicago, Toronto, Sydney, New York City, Tel Aviv, Amman, Santiago, Mumbai, Austin, Boston, Berlin, Dublin, San Francisco, and China.
Four winners from each of the four categories are chosen at each regional event, and will go on to compete head-to-head at the week-long 1776 Challenge Festival in May held in Washington, D.C.; pitching to investors, meeting potential mentors, and with the chance to win a range of prizes.
