DEMO Africa is one of the flagship initiatives of LIONS@frica and aims to connect African startups to the global ecosystem. DEMO Africa is the place where the most innovative companies from African countries get a platform to launch their products and announce to Africa and the world what they have developed. This years event will be held in Lusaka at BongoHive on Thursday 23rd March 2017 where 20 startups are expected to pitch.
DEMO Africa invest in technological innovation because they understand the benefits of a vibrant technology ecosystem to a country. As Africa’s population becomes increasingly educated and affluent, the global business community is looking to capitalize on this increase in human and financial resources. There appears to be a new optimism for future economic prospects for Africa and hence a fresh interest in the technology sector, as highlighted by Intel Capital’s recent move: The potential for growth in the technology value chain is material, given that Africa has about 15% of the world’s population, but only about 2% personal computer users.
To date the numbers can speak for themselves as DEMO has led to more than 30 products being launched at DEMO Africa conventions,attended by over 500 people,with over us$14Million being invested on various startups.
This is the 6th edition of DEMO Africa, which debuted in 2012 at the World Economic Forum for Africa in 2012 and has been held in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
“We want to engage with startups in all the countries we visit. This is a very good opportunity for startups to take advantage of the partner network created by DEMO Africa and its partners through the LIONS@FRICA partnership to create linkages and networks that can help grow their businesses,” said Mbugua Njihia, event director, at DEMO Africa.
Apply here to have your startup selected to pitch at the event on 23 March, 2017 at BongoHive. Applications close Wednesday, 15th March, 2017.
It offers an opportunity for the startups from all over Africa to meet VCs, investors, tech acquisition specialists, IT buyers and media from across the region and around the globe. The start-ups are given an opportunity to launch their products to a tech Eco-system under the following categories: Agriculture,Health, Education, Manufacturing, Retail, Media and Entertainment, Communication, Transport and Logistics, Energy, Finance and Banking, Water and Sanitation, Waste management and Recycling.
Characteristics of the products being pitched during the DEMO :
- Must solve a commercial problem
- Must make an impact or change the marketplace into which it is introduced or create a new market
- Must have a business plan and a management team capable of delivering the product to market
- Must make its public debut at the DEMO Africa conference
- Must be a registered company
Your product will become ineligible if :
- Product is currently in public distribution, either as a launched product or as a highly publicized beta test
- Upgrades to an existing product
- Products entering an already saturated market category with little market differentiation
- Products that have been widely covered by technology and business media
