Eight African hardware startups are set to pitch in the regional finals of the 2019 ASME ISHOW in Nairobi, Kenya tomorrow, competing for a share of US$30,000 cash, in-kind technical support, and a ticket to the ISHOW Bootcamp in New York.
ASME, the global organisation for mechanical engineers, will host the Kenya regional final tomorrow, with other events taking place in Bengaluru, India, and Washington, DC, United States (US).
Three winners from each event will be selected to secure a share of the cash prize fund, as well as considerable support in bringing their inventions to market and exposure to potential investors, partners and customers in New York.
Eight startups from across Africa have been picked for the Kenya regional final of the ISHOW, with half of them hailing from the host country. They are solar-powered cold storage solution developer Solar Freeze, solar-powered electric vehicle manufacturer Solar E Cycle, fertiliser producer Safi Organics, and in-transit cooling system manufacturer Savanna Circuit Tech.
Also taking part are Ugandan AI-powered diagnostics tool breastIT, South African hearing diagnostics solution hearX Group, and two solutions hailing from Kumasi, Ghana – multi-crop thresher producer SAYeTECH and grain moisture tester developer Sesi Technologies.
The startups will pitch in front of a judging panel comprised of Gearbox executive director Dr Kamau Gachigi, Villgro Kenya co-founder and CEO Dr Robert Karanja, Kenyatta University professor Dr June Madete, Toyota Kenya product development engineer Tom Odoyo, and GlobalX Investments founder and CEO Sylvia Mukasa.
