Following a rigorous process of nominations, public voting and adjudication, on Thursday 22 November 2018 at the regional Grand Finale of Southern Africa Startup Awards, 15 winners in 15 categories, from 14 participating SADC countries were announced.

Prior to the Grand Finale, more than 3000 nominees went through public voting and adjudication in their home countries to win the national round. The winners from here were then further judged and ranked by an esteemed panel of international judges, whose decision was eventually combined with individual public votes from across the globe to win at the regional Grand Finale of the 2018 Southern Africa Startup Awards.

The event, which was hosted at the illustrious Steyn City development in the North of Johannesburg, in collaboration with LIMIT BREAKERS GLOBAL FOUNDATION, brought together some of the most sought after startups, startup supporters and investors in the region in conversation and celebration.

True to their mission of regional interconnectedness, the 2 day awards event kicked off with attendees engaging in deep and challenging conversation, first with a panel discussion on innovative platforms to fund startups in Africa, and then a round table discussion among the startup ecosystem about the state of investment readiness and what can be put in place to bridge the ever widening gap between great startups and investors.

About the round table discussion, Founder of Growthwheel, Hilton Theunissen said “This offers a unique opportunity for investors, startup supporters and startups to sit around the same table and really get into ecosystem issues.”

Founder of LIMIT BREAKERS GLOBAL FOUNDATION, and discussion facilitator at the event, Nokuthula (Nokky) Ndlovu put the challenge to all in the room that “We should not end this at discussion, but rather commit ourselves to action, as we become deliberate about growing startups, creating an environment for tech innovation to thrive, and opportunities to promote diversity, particularly inclusion of women in tech.”      

As announced in the evening, the winners of the 2018 Southern Africa Startup Awards are:  

Startup of the Year | Easy Equities - South Africa

Female Role Model in Tech | Lilian Makoi - Tanzania

Founder of the Year | Kennedy Liswani - Namibia

Best Startup Ecosystem Initiative - Simodisa - South Africa

Best Student Startup | EcOrganics - Mauritius

Best Social Impact Startup | Yapili - Botswana

Best Food/Agri Tech Startup | LimaLinks - Zambia

Investor of the Year | Lireas Holdings - South Africa

Best Accelerator/Incubator Programme | Startupbootcamp Afritech - South Africa

Best Co-Working Space | CoWorkLab - Mozambique

Best Newcomer | Intergreatme - South Africa

Best EduTech Startup | Kamaleon - Mozambique

Best Fintech Startup | Easy Equities - South Africa

Best Water Crisis Management Solution | Solve Namibia - Namibia

People's Choice | Lynette Hundermark - South Africa 

Six of the categories, including Startup of The Year, Best Newcomer, Founder of the Year, Best Startup Accelerator/Incubator, Best co-working Space and the People’s Choice are represented in the Global Startup Awards, which means winners will compete with winners in 6 other regions for the global accolade to be announced in 2019.

Attendees and finalists alike were treated to a nice surprise when Dave Romero, founder and CEO of CABAN Investments Ltd, which is in partnership with Southern Africa Startup Awards, announced a surprise prize for the winner of Startup of the Year, and for their best pick from the investor speed dating. The prize includes full capitalization and scaling to multiple territories in Africa and the UK.

Winners were also offered web services which includes Website design, hosting and managed services for 12 months to the value of R150 000 by Kaskade.Cloud.

The COO of Southern Africa Startup Awards, Flo Mosoane, added that “our aim is to create a platform and channel for effective relationship building in the startup ecosystem. We hope to have achieved that with this event”. “I attended lots of awards ceremonies and this was authentic and memorable in so many ways” Said Lynette Hundermark, the winner of the People’s Choice Award when asked about her experience.

In an emotional address, CEO of Southern Africa Startup Awards Mckevin Ayaba said “This would not be possible without the relentless efforts of the SASAWARDS Team but above all,  the collaboration with our amazing partners, Limit Breakers Global Foundation, Geekulcha, Silicon Cape, Caban Investments Ltd, Inventio, SAIS Programme, Network on SABC, ITWeb Africa, Tech In Africa, MAD Productions and Global Startup Awards”.       

About SASAwards:

Southern Africa Startup Awards is a circuit of the world renowned Global Startup Awards, which provides an annual spotlight on web/tech startups in regions across the globe with focus on startups around 5 years old, highlighting up-and-coming and established technology talent globally. Entries are judged by an esteemed panel of judges, all leaders in the respective fields, as well as by public vote. Global Startup Awards is the largest independent startup-ecosystem competition started in the Nordics in 2012, covering more than 45 countries in 7 regions.

Since 2012, Global Startup Awards has grown to include South East Asia, Central Europe, SAARC Region (South Asia), and now East Asia, Baltics and Southern Africa which launched in 2018.For more information about the awards please visit: www.southernafricastartupawards.com.

Regional finalists for the inaugural Southern Africa Startup Awards have been announced, with over 130 candidates shortlisted across 15 categories in 15 Countries. The incredible Steyn City Equestrian Centre in Johannesburg, will be the venue for this prestigious event scheduled for the 21st and 22nd of November, and it will be hosted by Vuyolwethu Dubese of Thomson Reuters Labs, and Siphumelele Zondi, Anchor of Network on SABC.   

In keeping with the Southern Africa National Startup Awards vision, of “Regional Interconnectedness and Global Visibility”, this awards event is packed with value-adding activities, designed to enable finalists to rub shoulders with regional and global investors and startup ecosystem developers, to build long lasting beneficial relationships within the regional startup ecosystem.  

The Southern Africa Startup Awards Grand Finale is hosted in collaboration with LIMIT BREAKERS GLOBAL FOUNDATION, an impact catalyst for social change. “The Startup Ecosystem might not be fully understood but it’s definitely worth exploring. We are in the 4th Industrial Revolution, with tech disruptions all over.  This is our opportunity to highlight that we need to open our eyes and see beyond today and secure tomorrow by supporting Startups now, whilst there’s time,” said the visionary founder and CEO, Nokky Ndlovu.      

The confirmed schedule for the event includes:  

21st November 2018 (13:30):

• Panel discussion on innovative platforms to fund startups in Africa, featuring Section 12J VC, Equity Crowdfunding, Blockchain, and Angel Investing.
• Investor Speed Dating
• Exclusive Networking 

22nd November 2018 (10:00):

• Investment Readiness Round Table Discussion

22nd November 2018 (17:30):

• Southern Africa Startup Awards Regional Grand Finale Ceremony 

National winners from 14 SADC countries will represent their respective countries to contest for an accolade in one of 15 categories in the region.

Regional public voting is now open, and adjudication by our expert regional jury panel is also underway. Winners will be selected in the following categories:

1. Startup of the Year 

2. Fintech Startup

3. Founder of the Year

4. Female role Model in Tech

5. Best Edutech Startup

6. Best Newcomer

7. Investor of the Year

8. Best Co-Working Space

9. Best Startup Ecosystem Initiative

10. Best Accelerator/Incubator

11. Best Water Management Crisis Solution

12. Best Student Startup

13.Best Food/AgriTech Startup

14. Best Social Impact Startup

15. People’s Choice (Vote) 

“Starting a new business takes a huge amount of courage and hard work. The first few years can be really challenging and the Southern Africa Startup Awards are here to support entrepreneurs who are investing so much of themselves to build businesses that will ultimately create employment and benefit the broader economy. We are so pleased with the standard of entries in our very first edition and I know the Regional Judging panel have a very difficult task in choosing the Regional Winners for the Southern Africa Startup Awards 2018” said Mckevin Ayaba, CEO of Southern Africa Startup Awards.

This prestigious event is by invitation only, and will be attended by national and regional startups, investors, startup ecosystem builders, and other organisations.    

About SASAwards: Southern Africa Startup Awards is a circuit of the world renowned Global Startup Awards, which provides an annual spotlight on web/tech startups in regions across the globe. Global Startup Awards It is the largest independent startup-ecosystem competition started in the Nordics in 2012, covering more than 45 countries in 7 regions. Since 2012, Global Startup Awards has grown to include South East Asia, Central Europe, SAARC Region (South Asia), and now East Asia, Baltics and Southern Africa which launched in 2018.For more information about the awards please visit: www.southernafricastartupawards.com