DEMO Africa has announced the 30 technology startups from across Africa that will pitch at the 2015 edition of the event in Lagos in September, with Nigeria and Kenya best represented with eight startups each.
Disrupt Africa reported earlier this month DEMO Africa has received a record number of applications for the remaining 26 places, after Flippy Campus, Shield Finance, Road Rules and Raye7 booked their tickets at mini-events held in Accra, Nairobi, Harare and Cairo respectively.
The full list has now been released, with eight Nigerian startups selected, namely Mavis Computel, Oga Venue, TalkingBookz, CarpartsNigeria, Zuvaa, SmartEdu, PoshRite, and iKon Tracker. Kenya also has eight: InsureAfrika, Abacus, SimbaPay, ENT-Mobile, Bitsoko, BambaPOS, Shield Finance and LipaPlus.
South Africa has three representatives – Edge Books, Bozza and Eco-mc2 – while Ghana, Egypt, Cameroon and Zimbabwe each have two. Uganda, Tanzania and Ivory Coast are represented by one startup each.
The most highly represented category is Finance and Banking with eight startups, with other popular categories including Education, Transport and Logistics, Retail, Communication and Media, and Entertainment.
Director general of Nigeria’s National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) Peter Jack congratulated the startups and welcomed them to Nigeria for the event.
“We are excited at the opportunities that technology has presented to our African youths in creating jobs and wealth. This is a great moment in the history of Africa, steadily rising to establish its digital footprint in the world,” he said.
“I would like to congratulate every entrepreneur that took part in the DEMO Africa challenge, though the stage can only accommodate thirty entrepreneurs this year, our pride is particularly in the large numbers of entrepreneurs that continue to support the cause to have Africa generated solutions,” said Harry Hare, executive producer of DEMO Africa.
The selected startups will now be placed under a mentorship programme which will run until September 22, aimed at sharpening the pitching skills of the entrepreneurs.
Yele Okeremi, chairman of DEMO Africa’s Local Organising Committee, said preparations for the event are now at the final stage.
“We are excited that local and international players in the transport and accommodation industries have come forth to offer their support. I am confident that we will deliver a world class event,” he said.
