Hilda Moraa, co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO) of recently acquired Kenyan fintech startup Weza Tele, has been confirmed as the keynote speaker for this year’s PIVOT East event, which will take place next week.
Disrupt Africa reported last month 25 finalists had been chosen in five categories to pitch at the East African mobile startups pitching competition, with all the startups currently undergoing training in advance of the event on July 22, for which tickets are now on sale.
Moraa will be the keynote speaker, with PIVOT East saying her attendance was in line with the event’s mission to highlight the growth of the East African startups ecosystem and share its successes.
Weza Tele, which provides a number of value added mobility solutions in commerce, supply chain, distribution and mobile payment integration, was in May acquired by financial services group AFB for US$1.7 million, the largest acquisition of a tech startup in Kenya thus far.
“She is one of the successful young female tech entrepreneurs in Africa. She will be sharing her inspiring story on her Weza Tele journey and advice to the 25 startups that will have a chance to pitch at the event,” the organisers said.
“She will also highlight the key ingredients to a successful startup and how to fire up your startup and keep it up through her practical and inspiring experiences and diverse knowledge.”
There will be 25 startups pitching at PIVOT East, including 17 from Kenya, six from Tanzania, and one each from Uganda and Rwanda.
In the Finance category, BitFinance (Kenya/Zimbabwe), Eko Biashara (Kenya), Hisa Play (Kenya), Shield Finance(Kenya) and V-Money (Tanzania) will go head to head, while the Enterprise category finalists are all from Kenya, namely Duma Works, Djuaji, Tenderpreneur.net, Mobu and SaniCMS.
The Entertainment category is made up of Soka (Tanzania), Makarao (Kenya), Guumzo (Tanzania), Moview(Tanzania) and Kaka and Chui (Kenya).
Snapp Builder (Kenya), ENT-Mobile (Kenya), SafeMotos (Rwanda), Nikweli (Tanzania) and African Fashion (Tanzania) will compete in the Utilities category, while the Society and Governance category is made up of Arifu (Kenya),BOOKEX (Kenya), MySecurity (Kenya), Feedback-RT (Uganda) and Politik (Kenya).
