The African editions of IBM’s SmartCamp initiative are taking place this week, with participating startups standing the chance to win a place on a three-month Silicon Valley accelerator and earn US$25,000 in funding.
Disrupt Africa reported in August IBM announced its 2015 SmartCamp competition would take place in 30 cities worldwide, including four in Africa – Cairo, Casablanca, Johannesburg and Nairobi.
Between four and six applicants will participate at each local IBM SmartCamp event, during which the startups will work with mentors from local business, startup and VC communities.
In total, 10 SmartCamp winners will be chosen to attend the LAUNCH Scale event in San Francisco in October, giving them the opportunity to exhibit at IBM’s SmartCamp pavilion.
The 10 semi-finalists will then be invited back to San Francisco in March 2016 to exhibit in the IBM SmartCamp Pavilion at LAUNCH Festival, the largest startup event in the world with over 20,000 attendees. Three will be chosen to pitch live for the title of IBM Global Entrepreneur of the Year, which brings with it a place in the LAUNCH incubator and US$25,000 investment from angel investor Jason Calacanis.
The first African leg kicked off yesterday in Casablanca. The Cairo event takes place today; Johannesburg competes tomorrow, and on Friday, Nairobi-based competitors take their turn.
The Nairobi SmartCamp is to be hosted at the iHub, with the incubator opening the workshop-cum-conference event to members of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem. Those interested in joining in the SmartCamp in Nairobi can register online.
