Disrupt Africa has opened applications to the 2020 edition of Pitch Live @ Africa Startup Summit, with 10 startups to be selected to present their solution and ask on the main stage to an audience of almost 600 investors, corporate partners, accelerators and media.
The Africa Startup Summit is part of the annual Africa Tech Summit, and brings together stakeholders in the tech startup space across the continent in Kigali, Rwanda, on February 4-6, to explore the opportunities and challenges within the ecosystem, while showcasing Africa’s abundant entrepreneurial talent.
The focus of the Africa Startup Summit is on encouraging collaboration and engagement, interactive problem-solving, and creating connections between investors, corporates, stakeholders and startups.
Ten outstanding startups from around Africa will be hand-selected by the Disrupt Africa team, and given the chance to pitch their business and their current ask – whether funding, partnership, or other – live on stage to the audience of 600 local and international decision-makers.
The audience will be challenged to make progress in responding to the startups’ asks by the summit close – with investor meetings, as well as corporate and government partnership talks to be encouraged for pitching ventures.
Selected startups will also have access to the rest of the event, which features three summits, and take part in the wide variety of workshops, discussions and networking sessions taking place over the three days.
Applications are open to African tech-enabled startups operating in any field. Startups applying must also be less than five years old; have at least an MVP, ideally with existing traction; have raised less than US$1 million in external funding; and have a current “ask” to present on stage.
“Inviting Africa’s most exciting startups to Pitch Live on the main stage is one of the highlights of Africa Startup Summit, and we’re really looking forward to reading this year’s applications. Supporting local startups and creating a platform for them to showcase and reach out to the partners they need is at the very heart of what this event is all about,” said Gabriella Mulligan, co-founder at Disrupt Africa.
“Last year’s participants really gained a lot from taking part in Pitch Live, with tangible outcomes in terms of funding and growth. We are looking forward to Africa Startup Summit playing an even bigger role in connecting startups with the investors and partners they need to scale their businesses across Africa and the rest of the world,” said Tom Jackson, co-founder at Disrupt Africa.
Startups must be able to attend the Summit in Kigali in person. Applications are open here, until January 6, with applications to be reviewed on a rolling basis.
Tickets to attend are currently on sale here. Disrupt Africa readers are eligible for 10 per cent off tickets, with code “DA10”.
For more information or for sponsorship and expo enquiries please visit https://www.africatechsummit.com/kigali/africa-startup-summit/ or email Gabriella on gabriella@disrupt-africa.com, or Tom on tom@disrupt-africa.com.
