Kenya leads the way in terms of startups selected for the PIVOT East competition, with 15 companies amongst the 25 finalists for the event in Nairobi on November 15.
PIVOT East, organised by m:lab East Africa, has been held annually since 2011. Disrupt Africa reported extensively from last year’s event, which saw the likes of SafeMotos, Duma Works and Shield Finance named category winners.
The organisers have named 25 startups across five categories from across the East Africa region as finalists for this year’s competition, where they will compete to win market recognition and investor interest.
Kenya leads the way with 15 startup finalists, while Uganda has five and Tanzania three. Ethiopia and Rwanda are each represented by one startup.
The finance category is made up of Tanzanian companies EdgePoint and Andrea Consulting, Ethiopia’s BusinessTYC, Uganda’s DusuPay and Kenyan startup Inclusion Media.
Kenya dominates the enterprise category with four startups, namely Mobiticket, Travo, Kleva Plus and e-Kodi, while Tanzania’s Ajira completes the list.
The entertainment category is again dominated by Kenyan companies, in this case Request Africa, Dream Africa, Cloud 9 Kenya and Covercloud. Ugandan company Tamithi is the fifth.
Another four Kenyan startups have been selected in the utilities category, namely Tech Water Solutions, myhr, Mobilized Construction and weSurf, alongside Ugandan company Aloyo Electronics.
The social impact category is made up of MobFit and SkoolDesk, both from Uganda, Kenya’s Flare and Medulla Shelf, and Rwanda’s Techno Stuffs.
For each category a sixth best startup has been placed on a waiting list and may pitch at the conference if a finalist drops out for any reason. These five startups are Tanzanian companies Rogech Animation and Simon Tito Foods, and Kenyan companies MyAfya, SapamaERP and ForeverAppy.
All finalists will receive training, coaching and mentorship in the weeks before the pitching conference. These pre-conference activities are aimed at assisting the finalists in improving key elements of their business models and pitches.
