Provisional driver’s licence app Road Rules yesterday became the third team to secure their place on the DEMO Africa stage in Lagos, Nigeria in September, after winning the pre-pitch event in Harare, Zimbabwe, which brought together startups from across southern Africa.
Pre-pitch events have already taken place in Nairobi, Kenya and Accra, Ghana, with Ghana’s Flippy Campus the first startup to book their spot and Shield Finance declared the winner of the Nairobi event. A further pre-pitch event is also set to be held in Cairo, Egypt.
Seven startups pitched at the Harare event, with key industry players including Jabu Mpofu, Samuelle Dimairho, Munya Chiura and Mbugua Njihia making up the selection panel.
Road Rules founder and chief executive officer (CEO) Chikosi Tawanda said he is excited about the chance to pitch on the DEMO Africa platform.
“I believe that getting a chance to pitch on the DEMO Africa stage will expose us to opportunities that we initially just dreamed of,” he said.
DEMO Africa event director Mbugua Njihia expressed enthusiasm on the quality of technology products that are emerging across Africa.
“We have been to Nairobi, Accra and now Harare, the level of creativity witnessed is amazing. I am now sure that Africa is able to produce world class products that can be easily scaled,” he said.
Hypercube’s Rinesh Desai said: “Our belief and support to these entrepreneurs is what will ensure that Africa’s economy gets a comfortable ride on home -made technology solutions.”
DEMO Africa previously extended the application deadline for startups, with applications now open until June 30. In April, Disrupt Africa published advice for how to make the perfect application for the competition.
DEMO Africa will take place September 21-25 at the Eko Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria, with delegate registration already open and those wishing to attend able to register online. The event is being organised in collaboration with the LIONS@FRICA partners – which include Microsoft, Nokia, US State Department, DEMO, USAID, African Development Bank and VC4Africa, among others – and Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies.
