International research firm Gartner is looking for African tech startups to showcase through its Aspiring Innovators Programme at the annual Gartner Symposium/ITxpo Africa in Cape Town.
The event, which will take place on September 26-28, will highlight interesting African startup technology companies that have something unique to offer enterprise organisations.
Gartner said the goals of the programme are to support the African startup technology scene and provide delegates access to innovative local technology providers. Startups will be selected by Gartner research analysts and given the opportunity to pitch to an audience looking for solutions and meet with senior IT decision-makers.
Last year’s event saw six selected South African companies – Build, Clevva, Encentivize, Mapzania, Nandie and Wyzetalk – attend the event in a bid to build their brands and expand their early customer bases.
This year, selected innovators will join MTN Business – the lead sponsor of the event – on the ITxpo show floor to show and discuss their products with symposium delegates. Over 1,100 CIOs and senior IT executives are expected to attend.
Gartner is looking for early-stage startups based in Africa, with fewer than 50 employees and less than ZAR20 million (US$1.23 million) revenues. The product or solution must supports B2B or corporate B2C use cases, and be in production or beta with at least two customers.
Startups that meet these criteria can apply by sending contact details, a “company CV” and a short description of why their product is innovative to aspiringInnovators@gartner.co.za by February 26.
