AfricArena, Silicon Cape and Wesgro host expert discussion and release research indicating funding raised by African startups to increase by 100%+, exceeding $1 billion for the first time.

Tuesday, 30 October, Cape Town – In the wake of the SA Investment Conference that took place last week, AfricArena, Wesgro and Silicon Cape hosted a press conference at the InvestSA One Stop Shop in Cape Town, making public new partnerships for the conference and discussing the role conferences and accelerators like AfricArena play in attracting investment to the continent.

Partech Ventures’ latest annual funding report shows that venture capital funding in 2017 reached $560 million, recording 53% year on year growth. South Africa, Kenya and Nigeria dominate with 6% of total funding. Francophone Africa is accelerating with 14% of the deal transactions and financial inclusion (off-grid tech, fintech and insuretech) representing 45% of deals.

The track record shows the trend is that African tech entrepreneurs are raising more and more funding. Yet, the amount of investment going to African tech startups represents less than $50c per capita whilst in Europe the investment is $50 per capita in the USA $150. Currently, less than 1% of global tech investment is into Africa whereas on the global scene, in 2017 the USA attracted $74 billion, Asia $71 billion and Europe nearly $18 billion.

“If we are to create the next generation of successful entrepreneurs competing at a global scale – clearly the challenge remains as an input and output measure to increase the level of capita that African startups attract,” states Christophe Viarnaud, CEO of AfricArena and Methys. ““It is predicted that in 2050 and 2100, there will be more than 50 cities with more than one million people on the African continent, and the majority of the most highly populated cities in the world will be in Africa. This is a very important factor in terms of being a fundamental underlying trend which is going to drive increasing investment in Africa, therefore we foresee the investment in African tech startups to exceed the $10 billion annual mark in the next decade.”

Based on internal research conducted in 2018, AfricArena, Silicon Cape and Wesgro expect the funding raised by African startups to increase by 100%+, exceeding $1 billion for the first time and achieve $1 dollar per capita, positioning Africa as the fastest growing area in the world.

“Another interesting thing is the emphasis we put on taking our startups to the bigger stages outside of the continent,” adds Danai Musandu, Investment Associate, Goodwell Investments BV, “You always find more people rushing to go to Silicon Valley to go see where the big stage and the content is. But we need to have a change of perspective and a change of attitude, where people will say ‘We’re going to Africa, where the big stage of the future is’. The biggest barrier is our perspective and we need to change that perspective.”

AfricArena is a pan-African ecosystem accelerator whose mission is to help African startups access market and capital. The primary outcome measure is investment deals done around the event.

AfricArena 2018 Announcements

Over 70 start ups from over 30 countries will attend, competing in 11 open innovation challenges

In partnership with We Think Code, AfricArena will run a hackathon on a mobility challenge for the City of Cape Town

EM Lyon, a world-ranked business school, joins as academic partner and will stream AfricArena live on its Casablanca, Lyon and Singapore campuses

Over 100 investors from US, Europe, Africa will attend or follow on the live streaming of the pitch sessionsAfricArena announced partnership with Deep Tech platform ‘Hello Tomorrow’ and a Deep Tech Africa challenge that will take place on Day 2 of AfricArena.

Silicon Cape members to receive early bird special of 50% off AfricArena tickets 

EM Lyon is an international business school priding themselves in “making entrepreneurs for Africa”. They capitalize on the worldwide-recognized experience and quality of their programs and offer both students and corporations content that is tailored to their context and to their problems. EM Lyon is fully in line with their signature "early maker": a school that tries, investigates and innovates far ahead of others.

Hello Tomorrow organises mentorship programs and a series of events around the world, as well as educating and consulting relevant stakeholders on emergence of deep technologies with the platform fast becoming a key reference in deeptech innovation and entrepreneurship.

Sarah Pedroza, Managing Director of Hello Tomorrow, states: “Deeptech innovation happening today knows no borders. But the opportunities and resources to catalyze these solutions are unevenly distributed. We need to give better tools to deeptech entrepreneurs in ecosystems that are booming, connecting them to a global network of industry leaders, investors and policy makers in order to bring their concepts to market. We’re excited to partner with AfricArena, joining their flagship event in one of the biggest tech hubs in Africa, which is a great opportunity to bring key stakeholders together.”

Finalists for the internationally sponsored challenges were also announced:

VINCE ENERGIES CHALLENGE – How to make energy more accessible in Africa thanks to energy efficiency solutions, energy flows optimization blockchain and/or AI - Rensource (Nigeria), BIG POT – Nigeria, Oniriq – Senegal

SAINT-GOBAIN CHALLENGE – A solution to upgrade professionals’ skills across Africa - Syafunda (South Africa), The Student Hub (South Africa), Ceed Learning (South Africa)

VIVATECH CHALLENGE – How AI can help generate a self-sustaining growth in the AgriTech industry - Agrocenta (Kenya), Homefarm (South Africa), Aerobotics (South Africa)AfricArena will take place on 15 & 16 November.

More information available at www.africarena2018.com

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For more information on AfricArena or this press release, please contact:

Mika Stanvliet | This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. | 081 534 6237 

About AfricArena:

Celebrated as the largest tech ecosystem accelerator on the African continent, last year’s edition of AfricArena saw more than 80 startups presenting to over 100 investors with 25 countries being represented and over $2M worth of deals done. The conference serves as a platform for the continent’s best startups and innovators to showcase their world-class talent in front of an audience of both local and international investors. AfricArena is the ultimate deal-flow platform, bringing investors and startups together in one central location.

The challenges run by AfricArena are sponsored by Vinci Energies, AirFrance, Engie, Sanofi, Leroy Merlin, the City of Cape Town and RCS.

The conference is anchored and endorsed by corporate sponsors and partners La French Tech, Silicon Cape, Wesgro, SEDA, and will be covered by several media such as Techcrunch, Les Echos, Maddyness, Fast Company and many others. 

Startup Guide is bringing its popular entrepreneurial guidebook series to Cape Town in partnership with Silicon Cape and with support from SAP Next-Gen.   

CAPE TOWN, SOUTH AFRICA - 6 AUGUST 2018 Entrepreneurs, accelerators, coworking spaces and experts can now be nominated to be featured in Startup Guide Cape Town, the first-ever entrepreneurial handbook dedicated to Cape Town’s startup scene. Based on traditional guidebooks that can be carried around everywhere, Startup Guide books help entrepreneurs navigate different startup hubs across the globe and are now in 17 different cities across Europe, the US and the Middle East, including London, New York, Berlin, Tel Aviv and Stockholm. 

Packed with city essentials, practical information, in-depth interviews and insightful tips, Startup Guide Cape Town will guide, empower and inspire entrepreneurs in the coastal South African city to transform their startup ideas into reality. To ensure an accurate and trustworthy guide, the book is co-created with the local startup community, from 6 - 20 August, 2018, and anyone in the community can contribute by nominating candidates they’d like to see in the book at capetown.startupguide.world 

“One of the most active hubs for startup investment on the continent, Cape Town is attracting more and more entrepreneurs with its diverse pool of talent and growing ecosystem of investors, accelerators, incubators and coworking spaces ready to support early stage entrepreneurs,” said Sissel Hansen, founder and CEO of Startup Guide, “We’re excited to be stepping into South Africa’s startup scene for the first time and highlighting the people and places shaping Cape Town’s growing entrepreneurial community.”  

Founded in 2014, Startup Guide is a creative content and publishing company that produces guidebooks and tools to help people turn their startup ideas into reality. The idea behind the Startup Guide books originally came to Hansen when she moved from Copenhagen to Berlin to start a business and discovered how difficult it was to find useful information and local advice about that process. Despite being rejected by multiple investors, she bootstrapped the project and launched the first Startup Guide book in Berlin in 2014 – and it sold out in less than 48 hours. 

For Startup Guide Cape Town, Startup Guide has partnered with Silicon Cape, who will be the main project facilitator and supporter, while the main sponsor for the project is SAP Next-Gen. 

“Silicon Cape is thrilled to be partnering with Startup Guide to produce the first ever Southern Hemisphere guide for Cape Town,” says Kerry Petrie, General Manager at Silicon Cape, “We are always looking for ways to tell the story of our local ecosystem, its innovative stakeholders and its strong network connections. Startup Guide allows us to tell this story to a wider, international audience. We are excited for Cape Town to join the network of cities such as London, Hamburg, Tel Aviv and Paris.” 

After the nominations period, the list of candidates will be narrowed down to the top fifty companies and individuals based on the results. Afterward, the local advisory board – which is selected by Silicon Cape and consists of key players in the local startup community – votes for the final selection so there’s a balanced representation of industries in the book.

Startup Guide Cape Town is set to be released in April 2019. To save 20% on the book before the launch date, pre-order it now. 

Media contact
Sissel Hansen
This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
+45 52178545
startupguide.world 

About Startup Guide
Founded in 2014 by Sissel Hansen, Startup Guide is a creative content and publishing company that produces guidebooks and tools to help entrepreneurs navigate and connect with different startup scenes across the globe. As the world of work changes, our mission is to guide, empower and inspire people to start their own business anywhere. Today, Startup Guide books are in 18 different cities in Europe and the Middle East, including Berlin, London, Tel Aviv, Stockholm, Copenhagen, Vienna, Lisbon and Paris. It also has two physical stores in Berlin and Lisbon to promote and sell products by startups. Startup Guide is a 20-person team based in Berlin and Lisbon.  

About Silicon Cape
Silicon Cape is a non-profit, community-driven initiative that supports and catalyzes the creation of a vibrant, sustainable tech and entrepreneurial ecosystem in the Cape. Founded in 2009, Silicon Cape is the most established entrepreneurial network in Africa.