The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) has announced seven regional semi-finalists from South Africa and Zimbabwe for its annual Innovating Justice Challenge.
The semi final event will take place at OPEN Maboneng in Johannesburg on October 13, where the startups will present their ideas to a panel of local legal and innovation experts, and international representatives.
Successful finalists will gain access to up to EUR20,000 (US$24,000) in equity-free grant money and a place in the six-month HiiL Justice Accelerator. The challenge saw a record 601 innovations submitted from 65 different countries, including 80 from the Southern Africa region.
The semi-finalists are Road Rules, TIZ, ZELA, Lady Liberty, NuvaLaw, Comic Contracts, and MoLLy.
“The number and quality of entries that HiiL received this year shows that the justice sector is ripe for disruption, with hundreds of like-minded innovators all thinking about how new technology and ideas can improve access to justice for all,” head of the Justice Accelerator Wilfried de Wever said.
“We’ve seen that every aspect of the law and its implementation is being challenged. In every country in which we operate, people are finding novel ways to improve justice systems. The challenge for HiiL is now is to look at how we can support ever more innovators globally in their work.”
As well as the semi-final pitching session, the Innovating Justice Boostcamp will also feature key-note addresses, panel discussions, and interactive working sessions that will serve to bring together the different worlds of entrepreneurs, investors, civil society, justice professionals and academia.
