Cape Town has joined forces with Stockholm – the birthplace of fast-growing tech companies like Skype, Spotify and Klarna to launch Cape Town / Stockholm Connect (CSC), a platform that will bring together companies, developers, customers, investors, entrepreneurs, and institutions from across the two cities via a series of activities.
The CSC initiative, which kicks off with a launch event today, will also serve as a meeting point and provide participants with well-organised matchmaking opportunities and company visits.
The launch event features a diverse group of speakers sharing their insights about the startup landscape in both South Africa and Sweden, with two panel discussions exploring the opportunities offered by the two cities.
“It’s time to accelerate and intensify business exchange between Stockholm and Cape Town. Geographical boundaries don’t exist in the digital world, but we have identified gaps when it comes to knowledge and understanding about the respective markets. By connecting these two nodes of digital excellence, we want to close those gaps and create new business opportunities,” said Håkan Juholt, the Swedish Ambassador to South Africa.
City of Cape Town Mayoral Committee Member for Economic Opportunities and Asset Management, Alderman James Vos, said connecting Cape Town’s startup businesses with other markets across the globe was an important aspect of growing the local economy and creating opportunities for growth and job creation.
“Cape Town is one of the fastest growing startup centres on the continent and we have so much to offer. Sharing the knowledge and opportunities in our city with other startup centres can only lead to more benefits for our startup ecosystem. I am happy to participate in this virtual launch,” he said.
