Startupbootcamp AfriTech (SBC AfriTech) was named the Winner of the Top Accelerator Award by the first annual Southern Africa Startup Awards, in partnership with the Global Startup Awards.

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, and SBC AfriTech walked away with the title of Top Accelerator. The award was received by Nsovo Nkatingi, Programme Manager for SBC AfriTech and the only female to lead an accelerator of this scope. 

“Startupbootcamp AfriTech is truly honoured to have received this award,” states Nsovo Nkatingi, Programme Manager for SBC AfriTech, “And we are even more privileged to be backed by Nedbank, Old Mutual, PwC, RCS and BNP Paribas Personal Finance, these are the partnerships that help us validate the impact we have in Africa’s entrepreneurship ecosystem.”

The 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.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 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 for the finalists to win at the regional Grand Finale of the 2018 Southern Africa Startup Awards.

“The tech ecosystem in Africa is expanding rapidly and there are many new entrants - both local and international - that are providing amazing support to local startups. This means that all the accelerator programmes must keep raising their game,” states Philip Kiracofe, co-founder and CEO of SBC AfriTech, “We are humbled to have received this award and are honoured to proudly represent the African continent at the Global Startup Awards competition. The recognition for SBC AfriTech gives us yet another platform through which to showcase the disruptive startups in our cohort, and the innovative corporate sponsors who are powering them.”

SBC AfriTech is now officially the leading tech accelerator on the African continent and is the Africa-leg of a global family of industry-focused accelerators. The AfriTech accelerator is focused on high-growth startups in blockchain, connected devices, payment solutions, capital markets and asset management, integrated supply chain, e-commerce, FinTech, RetailTech, InsurTech, alternative financing, identity management, digital connectivity, data and behavioural analytics and enabling technologies.

Selected winners of the National Awards in each Region, such as Africa, will then participate in the Global Startup Awards the following year. Six of the categories announced at the Southern Africa Startup Awards, including Best Startup Accelerator/Incubator, which SBC AfriTech won, will now be represented at the Global Startup Awards next year. This means they will compete with the winners of 6 other regions for the global accolade to be announced in 2019. This ceremony will be held in China with the venue and date still to be confirmed.

“Innovation 'For Africans, By Africans' is baked into the DNA of SBC AfriTech and we are passionately devoted to accelerating every aspect of the ecosystem - startups, corporates, young digital talent, our partner network, and of course the SBC AfriTech team. We are able to leverage a global support network that includes 680 startup alumni, hundreds of corporate sponsors, and thousands of mentors to fulfil our core mission to scout, skill, and scale the best innovators on the continent. We work tirelessly every day to embrace this ethos and we are ecstatic to be recognized with this award. Naturally, we are excited to look forward to the Global Startup Awards competition, but regardless of what happens there, our most important focus will continue to be the local and regional ecosystem,” concludes Kiracofe.  

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

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

About Startupbootcamp AfriTech:

In 2017 the global Startupbootcamp network launched the first-ever Africa-based SBC programme in Cape Town.SBC AfriTech is a leading accelerator focused on high-growth startups in blockchain, connected devices, payment solutions, capital markets and asset management, integrated supply chain, e-commerce, FinTech, RetailTech, InsurTech, alternative financing, identity management, digital connectivity, data and behavioural analytics and enabling technologies.

The accelerator is anchored by leading corporate sponsors Old Mutual, RCS, BNP Paribas Personal Finance, Nedbank, and PwC that will support and grow the program and selected startups. Global sponsors include Amazon Web Services, and Cisco.

The programme is also supported by several service partners including: Cloudworx, VC4A, Inner City Ideas Cartel, Brevity Law and The Loudhailer.

For more information visit: https://www.startupbootcamp.org/accelerator/afritech/ 

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

Eleven startups from across the African continent, identified as “entrepreneurs for humanity”, were awarded the opportunity to partner with the AfricArena challenge corporate sponsors at the end of the second AfricArena technology conference in Cape Town today.

Saturday 17 November, Cape Town – Amongst others, Air France KLM selected DiscoverIkasi and Sea Monster, both from South Africa, to assist with improving the travel experience and sustainability of its subsidiary Joon. Vinci Energie, will work with Senegal’s Oniriq and South Africa’s DataProphet on innovative energy solutions in Africa.

See the full list of winners, sponsors and challenges below.

During 2018, in the run up to AfricArena2018, 60 startups pitched their businesses in regional events in eight cities across Africa. Many of which were invited to take part in a series of challenges set by the AfricArena sponsors, all looking to solve uniquely African business problems.  

SOLUTIONS FOR THE AFRICAN MARKET

The AfricArena 2018 conference was anchored and endorsed by major international sponsors La French Tech, Silicon Cape, Vinci Energies, AirFrance KLM, Engie, Saint-Gobain, Methys, Rogerwilco, City of Cape Town, Proparco, RCS, and Leroy Merlin.

The following sponsors specifically came to South Africa and AfricArena to explore innovation opportunities within Africa and abroad: RCS, Saint-Gobain, AirFrance KLM, Vinci Energies, VivaTech, Leroy Merlin, Engie, Sanofi and FSAT Labs.

“We expect to have a different approach from these startups, a bright idea that could be easily implemented, and also to benefit from what is very high potential in terms of innovation and entrepreneurial initiatives. And to find solutions that are very well adapted to the African market,” said Jean-Michel Mathieu, CEO of Joon, a subsidiary of Air France.

“African entrepreneurs are very willing to find solutions, to take risks, they address vital expectations and needs, and they are looking at the challenges with a very frugal mindset. I think this is a lesson for us as well, we learn a lot working with them and collaborating with them to find the right solutions and we take this inspiration back to Europe with us,” said Lydia Babaci-Victor, Chief Innovation and Development Officer at Vinci Energies.

Vincent Viollain, co-Founder and Head of Partnerships and Startups at VivaTech, the biggest tech conference in Europe said: “The leapfrog ability of African technology has become a bit of a cliché. But when you get a chance to see it, you’ll see that it’s actually true. African technology is frugal, its smart and it can have an impact locally as well as globally. In our winner, Aerobotics’ case we believe the solution can move beyond physical borders, and also have application in different industry sectors.” 

AFRICARENA WINNERS:

The startups who won the challenges, were grateful of the experience and excited to be moving forward with some of the largest corporations across the globe.

“Oniriq provides access to African rural populations through energy and the internet. It’s great to be here at AfricArena, it has been a journey. For two months we’ve been participating in this challenge since the selection two months ago in Dakar with Vinci Energies team and we’ve been in discussions since. For us the win is a great achievement and we’re looking forward to starting our collaboration in Senegal,” said Rodolphe Rosier, Founder of Oniriq. 

“We’d like to thank AfricArena and VivaTech for the opportunity to present and we’re really happy to have won and we cannot wait to be in Paris in May. We’re already expanding around the world and this presence at VivaTech 2019 will give us a great opportunity to meet the European market,” said Nasreen Patel, Head of Product at Aerobotics. 

“This is not just a win for DiscoverIkasi, it’s a win for the communities we work with across South Africa. It’s going to give them a lot more exposure. This is what we’ve been working towards since starting the business, to get to a platform where I can market DiscoverIkasi, our market, our experiences and the townships on an international stage. Now we need to go back home and form a strategy to scale the business across South Africa,” said Ntsebenziswano (Benzi) November, Founder of DiscoverIkasi.

The startups attending the conference will also each be receiving credit from AWS as part of their prizes. Each startup in attendance, winner or not, will receive $2000 in AWS credit.  

A WORD FROM THE ECO-SYSTEM

Kerry Petrie, General Manager of Silicon Cape, host ecosystem of AfricArena, states: “It’s such an amazing opportunity for entrepreneurs from all across the continent to connect and share, building bridges that may hold future partnership, export and market opportunities. It builds the visibility of the pan-African community for a local, regional and global stakeholder audience. We have to work together to increase investment in African ventures from 1%. And AfricArena is playing a pivotal role in making that a reality.”

Reflecting on the event, Christophe Viarnaud, CEO of AfricArena, expanded on the philosophy behind the conference. “AfricArena’s open collaborative Pan-African model, highly inclusive and embarking all categories of investors, ecosystem contributors, and corporates focused on innovation in Africa, has demonstrated very high impact throughout 2018 with 16 events on 3 continents. The grand finale at AfricArena2018 has shown the energy and excitement from 15 corporates, over 150 investors and 70 startups, with over $2m deals being done, startup-corporate partnerships being struck and a wave of energy and innovation from African entrepreneurs. We could not be more excited about the future, comments Viarnaud.  

THE WINNERS:

Air France KLM Challenge 1                     DiscoverIkasi

Air France KLM Challenge 2                    Sea Monster

Engie Challenge                                           Arnegy

Leroy Merlin Challenge                             BizAR Reality

Saint-Gobain Challenge 1                         Swift GeoSpatial

Saint-Gobain Challenge 2                         The Student Hub

Sanofi South Africa Challenge                Iyeza Health

The RCS Group Challenge                        ThisIsMe

Vinci Energies Challenge 1                       Oniriq

Vinci Energies Challenge 2                       DataProphet

Vivatech 2019 Challenge                          Aerobotics 

SPONSORS AND THEIR CHALLENGES:

Air France KLM Challenge 1 – optimising the airline’s travel experience while reducing its environmental footprint

Air France KLM Challenge 2 – using technology to enrich subsidiary Joon’s travel experience for its passengers

Engie Challenge – ensuing a reliable energy supply in urban areas

Leroy Merlin Challenge – immersive showroom experience that shows off a large variety of products

Saint-Gobain Challenge 1 – using satellite trend analysis to predict urban and climate challenges

Saint-Gobain Challenge 2 -- a solution to upgrade professionals’ skills across Africa, especially in remote areas.

Sanofi South Africa Challenge – optimising patient treatment adherence and completion rates

The RCS Group Challenge – storing and securing customer identity and authentication credentials

Vinci Energies Challenge 1 – using digitalisation to optimise industry and energy performance

Vinci Energies Challenge 2 – How to make energy more accessible in Africa using technology such as energy efficiency flow solutions, energy flow optimisation, blockchain and artificial intelligence

Vivatech 2019 Challenge – using artificial intelligence (AI) to generate growth and sustainability in the agriculture sector 

-- ENDS --

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

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

About AfricArena:

AfricArena is a conference that showcases Africa’s best startups and innovators in front of an audience of local and international investors looking for world-class talent.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. This year's edition saw 70 startups from 32 countries pitching to over 600 attendees. This year they are predicting that funding for African startups will crack US$1 billion. Earlier this year AfricArena launched a global tour to source the world's best tech innovators solving uniquely African problems, and the tour covered 66 000 kilometers in total. AfricArena is the ultimate deal-flow platform, bringing investors and startups together in one central location.

For more information visit: https://africarena2018.com

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

-- ENDS --

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. 

A new, highly-efficient mobile blockchain developed in Africa is set to acquire large-scale consumer adoption by 2021

Monday, 23 October 2018: DéMars (DMC), a mobile money platform and new blockchain protocol for the young emerging market is lite, fast, scalable, private, secure and virtually free. It’s also the first of its kind developed in Africa.Until now, various technological issues have held back large-scale consumer adoption of blockchain technology. Many early adopters have abandoned Bitcoin, Ripple, and Ethereum due to poor user experience.

DéMars provides a new infrastructure, the beta version of which will be revealed by the end of Q2 2019.The new technology aims to deliver financial services for the 1.7bn primarily young, unbanked adults in developing markets like Sub-Saharan Africa, of whom two thirds own a mobile phone. The “Banking as a Service Platform” will reduce the high cost of remittances to and within developing markets and enable access to simple lending, insurance and savings products. This is made possible via a smart contract escrow feature, where you can place a classified advert on the network and trade goods, services and cash with others. The solution responds to the resultant demand after global products failed to provide any real utility for the African consumer since they aren’t designed for a data constrained environment. In addition, global products don’t support micro transactions and rely on credit card payments.

The Founder of DMC, a South African now residing in Mauritius, Shaun Burrow, a banker by profession, states: “I started researching the entry-level market, and I was simply blown away to learn that 1.7 billion adults don’t have access to basic financial services and to learn that in the remittance space, families are paying about 45 billion US dollars a year in fees on the funds they are sending home. This is money being diverted from the poorest of the poor. The cost of payments to Sub-Saharan Africa and within Sub-Saharan Africa are the highest in the world, they range from 10 - 20 % of the money being sent home. It’s simply an unjust tax on ordinary, hardworking people.”

A mobile first for Africa

DéMars has worked out a more efficient way (versus other protocols like Bitcoin and Ethereum) to transfer data and validate transactions. The key innovation is a novel blockchain protocol which leverages a hypercube distributed hash table (similar technology to that used in file sharing speeds up the network and allows it to scale efficiently.All transactions are completely private as they are only stored on your mobile phone as unlike in the case of bitcoin or Ethereum it is not necessary to download the entire blockchain, which is a complete waste of data. There is also no centralized or decentralized servers as the network is stored and “lives” on the users’ phones. This means it’s completely distributed and free of censorship.

Best of all, the network and application are free and it is owned by its users. All transactions are virtually free too. All you need to access it is the native currency, DMC.

Only 10 Billion DMC, the cryptocurrency, will ever be issued, so there is a limited supply. The project is currently pre-selling 8 Billion coins to raise funds for further development with an initial selling price of €10 (R170) for 1000 coins. The price will increase by 10% for each round of 500m coins sold.Once deployed, entrepreneurs and developers will be able to build apps and offer services on the network too.

Trade local, pay global

The new digital currency falls under all three categories of digital currency. It has transactional uses, like Bitcoin. It’s the native currency of a platform, like Ethereum, and it’s has utility as it is designed to fulfil a specific task, like Ripple

A new global currency is under construction

The new currency has features that cross multiple traditional forms. In evaluating this new currency, we should rethink everything. Technology is fundamentally changing financial interaction and the new peer to peer decentralised currencies, including DMC, are taking the lead in this transformation. This is a currency you own and you control. No bank or government can take it away from you and you can choose to exchange it with whomever you please.

“The current financial infrastructure is like an old road, full of potholes, tolls and dilapidated petrol stations. DéMars is digging the tunnels and laying the sleepers to build a new railway line - in fact, it’s more like a hyper loop. And DMC is the electricity which will power the new system. It’s a new high-speed train with better and more convenient stations,” concludes Shaun Burrow, Founder of DMC.  

ENDS 

Editor’s Note

About DéMars

DéMars is a next generation blockchain protocol. The infrastructure is designed to reduce data trans-fers and energy consumption. The network's design enables it to run on decentralised mobile phone nodes, whilst maintaining a high level of cryptographic security and protection from double-spending. The protocol is designed for micro-currency exchanges and payments in a distributed and decentralised marketplace. As the network grows, through use of our Application, the technology can be extended to informal trades in goods and services, micro-lending and to insurance con-tracts.

For all press enquiries please contact:

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

Deal-flow sessions with top innovators lead to experimentation and commercialisation with SA corporates

19 September 2018, Johannesburg, South Africa – The Disruption Agenda, a first-of-its-kind event for the country, saw over 200 top business leaders and innovation thinkers attend the inaugural launch this week. This new platform initiated by Nedbank in partnership with Silicon Valley’s Plug and Play team, sought to connect leading global and local innovation talent to leaders ready to implement disruptive technologies.

The two-day event was structured into deal-flow sessions on Day 1 where thirty of Nedbank CIB’s top clients engaged with 10 of the most innovative startups sourced with the help of Plug and Play, known as the world’s largest innovation platform. Day two saw pitches from the 10 startups and a Disruption Panel Discussion with Nedbank’s lead thinkers on disruption and digital transformation to over 200 clients of Nedbank CIB’s, Retail Business Banking and Nedbank Private Wealth clients with a goal to stimulate and accelerate innovation action.

“The focus on disruption is something that we’ve been driving not only in our business, but as new value propositions for our clients. Additionally, our objective is to advance the local tech community,” shares Stuart van der Veen, Head of Innovation and Disruption at Nedbank CIB. Nedbank identify the top 100 disruptors every six months, both locally and globally. From this, 12 collaborations are identified across Nedbank with six progressing to experimentation and one through to commercialisation on a rolling basis.

“Aerobotics is a great example. They were one of the disruptors we identified, and we’ve taken them through to commercialisation with several of our clients,” concludes van der Veen.

Reflecting on the event, Alex Fenn, Technology and Innovation Lead for Sibanye-Stillwater, commented, “Mining companies are experiencing increasing cost pressures and volatile commodity prices. We’ve pulled all of the efficiency levers that we have at hand. I believe the next paradigm shift in operational performance will come from the adoption of some type of disruptive technology at a very broad level. We’ve identified enormous opportunity amongst the startups that we have engaged with, which could be critical to our digital transformation and sustainability going forward.”

The startups selected to showcase include Aerobotics, Dispel, GotBot, IoT.nxt, Koniku, LifeQ, Sentiance, Trueface AI, Wasteless and What3Words.

Michael Clampett, Head of Asset and Property Management: Retail at Attacq Group, states: “We’re quite small to allocate resources to sourcing top innovation at this scale but in partnership with Nedbank, this has now been possible, and we have access to innovate more quickly.”

In the venture capital space there a number of new entrants investing in disruptive tech startups, with the industry sitting around 4.4 billion and around 530 deals existing within the venture capital sector. Of these figures, 1.1 billion was new capital invested and 159 of deals took place in 2017 reflecting steady growth in the sector.

When talking about The Disruption Agenda, Herman Singh, Chief Digital Officer for MTN Group, shared, “This model of like-minded corporates working together to assist and facilitate innovation results in the startup model having the highest probability to succeed.”

The Disruption Agenda sought to activate experimentation and proof of concept initiatives between startups and corporates as a pragmatic, action-orientated approach to ensure impactful outcomes of the engagements.

“It’s been an extraordinary two days. The deal-flow sessions were transformative for us. As a small part of a wider business scaling globally, it’s been phenomenal to have the support of executives in those meetings with potential clients of Nedbank’s and to have them facilitate those conversations, so we can start to discuss proof-of-concepts and commercialisation. It’s a very exciting thing for us, to have so much hands-on support. It’s changed the way we think about how corporates are dealing with the innovation space in South Africa,” adds Lyndsey Duff, Country Manager for What3Words in South Africa. 

ENDS 

For more information on The Disruption Agenda 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 Nedbank Group

Nedbank Group is a bank holding company listed on JSE Limited (JSE) with a market capitalisation of R125 billion as at 30 June 2018. Nedbank Group is one of Africa’s largest banking groups.Its principal banking subsidiary is Nedbank Limited, and the group is 54% majority owned by Old Mutual Limited (OML), which has a primary listing on the JSE with secondary listings in London, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Namibia. Nedbank Group owns subsidiaries and banks in Namibia, Swaziland, Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, and offshore in the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey. It also has representative offices in other Southern Africa countries, including Angola and Kenya, and has key global financial centres to provide international banking services for SA-based multinational and high-net-worth clients in London, Toronto and Dubai (UAE).We are a diversified financial services provider, offering a wide range of wholesale and retail banking services, as well as insurance, asset management and wealth management solutions.

For more information, visit https://www.nedbank.co.za/    

About Plug and Play:

Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we have built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services, and an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress faster than ever before. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 20 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 6,000 startups and 220 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries.We provide active investments with 200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 700 networking events per year. Companies in our community have raised over $7 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club, PayPal, SoundHound, and Zoosk.

For more information, visit www.plugandplaytechcenter.com

Nedbank announces the Top 10 Innovators sourced from around the globe that they will connect to major corporates and business leaders in partnership with Silicon’s Valley’s Plug and Play, the world’s largest innovation platform, at this first of its kind event.

South Africa, 5 September 2018 – Nedbank recently announced the expansion of their US partnership with Plug and Play, the world’s largest innovation platform, to include South Africa for the first time. Together, the entities will connect 10 visionary entrepreneurs from around the world to business leaders at The Disruption Agenda to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa in September.

“We’re incredibly excited for the ten startups that are going to be part of The Disruption Agenda. The most important thing for Nedbank is to get pilots and experiments underway and push straight through to commercialization where possible,” states Stuart van der Veen, Head of Disruption and Innovation at Nedbank CIB. “We’ve engaged with our most forward-thinking clients and they will be participating in both the deal-flow sessions and be present at the actual pitches of the startups.”

Nedbank initiated their relationship with Plug and Play, described as the ultimate matchmaking machine between startups and corporates, two years ago as a sponsor of the global FinTech programme. Startups selected to engage at The Disruption Agenda represent both African and global startups from across industry sectors.

Startups selected for The Disruption Agenda

1.Koniku: Starts with the premise that biology is the most advanced technology on earth. Their belief is that Bio is Tech™. Koniku builds living machines with synthetic biology. Machines which can detect fake food, design taste, detect explosives, infectious diseases, cancers and more. Nature is our open source library. Currently, the company grafts custom proteins which act sensors on living cells – neurons - and encapsulate them within a silicon chip. The chips – Koniku Kore’s - will one day power the next generation of cognitive robots – synthetic cognition. 

2.Airware: Airware is the leading enterprise drone analytics company helping enterprises leverage today’s rapidly advancing technologies (such as drones, cloud computing, machine learning and more) to safely see and sense their sites and structures to improve productivity, mitigate risks, and take workers out of harm’s way. Airware enables enterprises to harness aerial data and turn it into valuable business insights that can be shared and acted on across sites, teams, and geographies. Their solutions enable enterprises to reinvent their organizations for the digital era by translating aerial data into business impact.

3.Sentiance: Sentiance analyses sensor data to understand human behavior and context so clients can develop new products and services that turn the Internet of Things (IoT) into the Internet of You. Sentiance context intelligence enables solutions for lifestyle-based insurance, contextual marketing and commerce, smart mobility, connected health, smart home, smart city and connected car. 

4.LifeQ: LifeQ implements a unique multidisciplinary approach underpinned by in-depth knowledge and understanding of human physiology and systems biology to extract and deliver relevant and meaningful person-specific digital biomarkers from various curated data sources. They are a world-leading science and technology company that want people from all walks of life to enjoy optimal health. LifeQ generates, and makes available, high-value personalized health information and solutions, which would traditionally be inaccessible or only obtainable through costly, invasive and inaccessible means, at a reliability level suitable for use by individuals, businesses, and clinical providers.

5.Wasteless: Wasteless is the world’s first machine-learning solution with real-time tracking for grocery stores looking to offer customers dynamic pricing based on a product’s expiration date. Wasteless takes machine learning capabilities used online and brings them to Brick and Mortar outlets. Tracking products at the item level, automating manual processes, and applying dynamic pricing have been the foundation of successful e-commerce platforms enabling them to substantially increase their profits. Wasteless allows supermarkets to close the gap and compete in the digital era.

6.Trueface AI: Trueface computer vision solutions augment any existing camera feed into intelligent, actionable data capable of identifying persons-of-interest, objects and more. Trueface AI provides facial recognition and spoof detection solutions for clients of all sizes. It provides an API, on-premise solution and a no-code solution for identity management. The Trueface mission is to educate on the benefits of computer vision and make it accessible for businesses looking for more unique and secure solutions.

7.Aerobotics: Aerobatics provides farmers around the world with world-leading pest and disease management systems for tree crop protection using drone and satellite data. Aerobotics’ software, Aeroview, empowers Tree Crop Farmers to identify early stage problems in their orchards. Used in conjunction with the Aerobotics’ Aeroview Scout App on their smartphone, farmers are able to locate problem areas on a tree-by-tree basis. Achieving success for over 6 million trees to-date, Aerobotics is setting the standard for tree crop analytics globally and innovating the agricultural processes as we know them.

8.What3Words: What3Words is a universal addressing system provides a precise and incredibly simple way to talk about location. They have divided the world into a grid of 3m x 3m squares and assigned each one a unique 3-word address. Better addressing can enhance customer experience, deliver business efficiency, drive growth and support social and economic development. It was the first system designed for voice and human interaction with machines.

9.Dispel: Dispel makes cloaking technology, rendering networked infrastructure and endpoints invisible and segmented, stopping attackers from gaining actionable knowledge usable in a cyberattack. Dispel cloaking is a secure overlay network in which applications can be deployed, or around which infrastructure can be concealed. They accomplish this cloaking through network-level Moving Target Defense: an orchestrated mass-virtualization and encryption technology designed to disrupt attacker's operations. An offensive, moving target defence stops attacks well ahead of older technologies. Dispel has established an industry-leading security program, ensuring customers have a high degree of confidence and trust in their stewardship of customer data and operations.

10.IoT.nxt: IoT.nxt has developed a world-leading framework that makes efficiencies, cost savings and increased revenue from IoT (Internet of Things) a reality for businesses. The IoT.nxt platform allows rapid deployment and businesses to action an Internet of Things strategy with little disruption to current operations.The major strength of the IoT.nxt framework is that the solution is technology-agnostic. They can help digitise any industry, any system and any process. IoT.nxt lays the foundation for rapid digitisation, creating agile, efficient, future-proofed businesses. They’ll help you create an interconnected, interoperable ecosystem without disrupting your business. 

“Some of the best startups in the world, when it comes to disruption, exist right here in South Africa. LifeQ, IoT.nxt and Aerobotics are proudly South African startups that will be participants in the event,” adds van der Veen, “one of the founders of Koniku is Nigerian who is now based in Berkeley in the United States. They’re the world’s first neurocomputation company, so essentially looking at neurons and genetically editing them to be able to detect small traces of substances, for example, explosives, illicit materials and even disease, anything a dog’s nose can sense.”

“Aerobotics is a Cape Town-based but global startup, now focusing on drone analytics, looking at agriculture and tree crops. So, from the startups attending The Disruption Agenda, we see massive value for clients as well as for the ecosystem at large.”

The 10 startups attending The Disruption Agenda are from across the globe, with half based in Silicon Valley, but their solutions are all applicable to the African continent. 

A Word From the Startups

"Africa deserves access to cutting-edge technology like everywhere else. Imagine being able to screen for any illness by breath alone. Personal and population health data at your fingertips using volatile organic compounds produced by the body,” comments Oshiorenoya Agabi, founder and CEO of Koniku. “At Koniku we believe any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from Nature. Using synthetic biology, we can build from the same building blocks as nature.”

“At LifeQ we saw the opportunity to leverage physiological data by bridging the gap between insights generated from limited access to expensive medical grade outputs and the easily accessible inexpensive consumable devices with their low efficacy outputs,” adds Dylan Garnett, COO of LifeQ, “I am very excited that LifeQ has been selected for Plug and Play as it will undoubtedly serve as a great platform to help identify and, along with others, address real needs that exist in South Africa and the broader African continent, thereby furthering LifeQ's vision of improving human health and wellbeing at scale.”The solutions built by these young innovators each demonstrate the importance of using tech to future-proof not only businesses but human lives, and how critical disruption across every industry is.

“Sentiance carries the company goal "Improving people’s lives using AI”. The technology is used today to help people live a healthier life and, amongst others, to reduce accidents. Our insights can be used by our customers to engage with their users and to improve their daily lives. Healthcare and insurance providers can, for example, provide lifestyle coaching and also detect and predict heart arrhythmia. Mobility and automotive companies can provide driver coaching and increase road safety and more. The Sentiance platform allows companies to engage with their end-users in a privacy-aware manner, at right time in the right moment, thereby improving the user’s quality of life and assisting in day to day tasks,” states Oliver Bath, Head of Client Services at Sentiance.

The Disruption Agenda is aimed at select clients and ecosystem collaborators.

To find out more you can follow Nedbank CIB social channels or get in contact by emailing This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..  

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For more information about this press release please contact:

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

About Nedbank Group
Nedbank Group is a bank holding company listed on JSE Limited (JSE) with a market capitalisation of R125 billion as at 30 June 2018. Nedbank Group is one of Africa’s largest banking groups.Its principal banking subsidiary is Nedbank Limited, and the group is 54% majority owned by Old Mutual Limited (OML), which has a primary listing on the JSE with secondary listings in London, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Namibia. Nedbank Group owns subsidiaries and banks in Namibia, Swaziland, Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, and offshore in the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey. It also has representative offices in other Southern Africa countries, including Angola and Kenya, and has key global financial centres to provide international banking services for SA-based multinational and high-net-worth clients in London, Toronto and Dubai (UAE).We are a diversified financial services provider, offering a wide range of wholesale and retail banking services, as well as insurance, asset management and wealth management solutions.

For more information, visit https://www.nedbank.co.za/ 

About Plug and Play:
Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we have built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services, and an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress faster than ever before. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 20 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 6,000 startups and 220 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries.We provide active investments with 200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 700 networking events per year. Companies in our community have raised over $7 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club, PayPal, SoundHound, and Zoosk.

For more information, visit www.plugandplaytechcenter.com

Java Launch: The Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi) recently launched the latest of their Tech Skills and Job-Readiness Programmes for previously disadvantaged South African youth interested in a future coding or software development career.

24 August 2018 – Young, unemployed South Africans that are passionate about a career in digital are invited to apply before 10 September 2018 to the Java Launch CapaCiTi training and placement programme set to kick off in Johannesburg and Cape Town late September.

CapaCiTi, a full-time tech career accelerator for ambitious youth, earlier this year significantly scaled up its programme delivery to support even more talented young tech enthusiasts. For those who are crazy about technology and ready to work hard – these programmes are a powerful platform to secure your digital career.

The CapaCiTi programmes are to be run at its brand-new tech student campus in Salt River, Cape Town, and at the CapaCiTi training hub at Resolution Circle in Milpark, Johannesburg. CapaCiTi students have direct access to CiTi’s vibrant technology and entrepreneurship ecosystem to access further opportunities and form valuable connections with other tech professionals and leaders through events and mentorship opportunities.

The goal is to equip 3000 talented young South Africans with industry-demanded technology and business skills, placing graduates into internships and permanent jobs in South Africa's leading companies. The Java Launch programme is the most recent high impact programme available to youth in Cape Town and Joburg. The programme is open to previously disadvantaged, unemployed youth.

The Java Launch Programme

Young South African that are interested in solving problems, curious about how things work, are interested in and passionate about mathematics and science, and excited about the applications and growth of tech, will succeed on the Java Launch programme.

The Java Launch CapaCiTi programme teaches students to code with Java, but also the broader technical and business knowledge you’ll need to succeed in today’s workplace. During the programme students will learn the fundamentals of Java, one of the most in-demand and foundational programming languages both within South Africa and internationally.

Participants in the programme will learn:

Java fundamentals (Intro to Java/Variables, Expressions and Statements/Control/Loops)

Java Data Structures and Error Handling (1D arrays, 2D arrays/Types of errors/Exception handling)

Java OOP and Advanced Programming (Classes and Objects/Classes and Methods/OOP principles/Complex topics.

This programme will prepare participants for careers as Junior Software Developers, Software Testers, Software Analysts and Software Engineers; but also as a great foundation for many other digital career avenues.

Application Criteria

All candidates must be 18-35 years old, previously disadvantaged, South African citizens and currently unemployed. The Java Launch programme requires applicants to be in possession of a Matric certificate. Applicants for the Java Launch programme are asked to complete an assessment to qualify for an application interview – this interview tests for problem solving and logic so those with an aptitude for STEM subjects (science, mathematics, engineering, technology) are most likely to succeed.

Pay it forward

While there are no training costs for students on the programmes, graduates will be required to pay forward their training costs only when they are settled into their new permanent job post programme. This pay-back then goes directly towards training of further young South Africans in the programme, thereby contributing to further SA youths’ digital career opportunities.

The pay-it-forward cost for the Java Launch programme is R16 000 for the skills training and coaching and an additional R9 000 travel allowance. Once a participant in the programme is settled in their first job, they will need to pay back the training costs in affordable installments every month, relative to their earnings.

In the years following graduation, CapaCiTi continues to support its alumni to support their career progression.

What to expect?

Individuals are mentored by a network of skilled coaches and receive training in important business skills such as collaboration, critical and creative thinking, presentation and personal branding. Each programme, including the Java Launch, is coupled with a 6-month internship so that candidates have an immediate chance to apply and grow their skills. On completion of the internship, candidate interviews are facilitated by CapaCiTi to ensure graduates are placed in permanent jobs.

Over the past seven years, CapaCiTi has trained over 1000 young South Africans, placing 82% of candidates, 40% being female, in technology positions at 130 partner host companies such as Media24, Woolworths, Shoprite, BCX and Absa.

“I’ve been totally blown away by CapaCiTi. The programme helped me achieve my goal, get my dream job, and start my career in Tech. I had graduated in 2012 with a Diploma in Programming from another institution and struggled to get a job in IT for over 4 years prior to joining CapaCiTi,” states Xavier Mehl who completed the CapaCiTi Software Development Programme in 2016.

CapaCiTi programmes not only provide meaningful opportunity for young South Africans to participate in the digital economy but allow companies to access job-ready young talent to diversify their teams and reduce recruitment and retention challenges. In today's industry, smart and extensive digital technology is no longer an addition but a requisite and data-driven companies who adopt and adapt tech will survive the surge in digital disruption across all sectors.

Are you a young, unemployed South African that fits the criteria and is passionate about a future career in technology?

Then APPLY ONLINE NOW for the Java Launch Programme.

Candidates need to be 18 – 35 years old, previously disadvantaged, a South African citizen and in possession of a Matric certificate.

Start #yourdigitalfuture by applying at: www.citi.org.za/capaciti-apply for the September Java Launch programme.

Connect with CapaCiTi on Facebook (@capacitiza) and Twitter (@capacitiza). 

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For media enquiries please contact:

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

ABOUT CAPACITI AND THE CAPE INNOVATION AND TECHNOLOGY INITIATIVE (CITI)

CapaCiTi is a programme of the Cape Innovation & Technology Initiative (CiTi), Africa's oldest tech incubator set up to develop initiatives that support and stimulate growth in the South African digital economy. The programme provides unemployed youth with coding and tech skills, psychological and mentoring support, job readiness training, as well as internship and permanent placement in our partner companies. For the past seven years, CapaCiTi has trained young people in the Western Cape, which was then scaled to 4 cities in January 2018, to further scale over the next three years. The Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi) as an organisation (NPO) has been instrumental in developing South Africa’s vibrant technology and entrepreneurship ecosystem. Its highly successful technology business incubation programmes have supported thousands of entrepreneurs in growing their businesses and contributing towards the local economy, alongside supporting key technology innovation clusters – currently Edtech, Fintech, Traveltech and Data Science. CiTi’s Bandwidth Barns are based in Woodstock and Khayelitsha, and are vibrant digital ecosystems for innovation, entrepreneurship and skills delivery. 

Nedbank launches The Disruption Agenda to connect the best technology startups to major corporations and business leaders

South Africa, 13 August 2018 – Nedbank announced today the expansion of their US partnership with Plug and Play, the world’s largest innovation platform, to include South Africa for the first time.Together, the entities will connect 10 visionary entrepreneurs from around the world to business leaders at The Disruption Agenda to be held in Johannesburg, South Africa in September.These startups are at the leading edge of digital transformation. They have been accelerated via the Plug and Play platform and identified as relevant disruptors to solving cross-sector business challenges at a corporate level within the local market.

“Nedbank recognises that building an innovation strategy at a corporate level can present a number of significant challenges. To help corporate leaders, we have structured The Disruption Agenda, a first of its kind event on the continent, to simplify how corporates connect to world-class startups,” shares Stuart van der Veen, Head of Disruption and Innovation at Nedbank Corporate and Investment Banking (CIB). “The problem is that innovative thinking is too often limited to finding new ways of doing old things, when what businesses really need to set themselves apart is to find completely new things to do. And that’s where the successful integration of disruptive technology can be an unparalleled source of comprehensive transformation for any business.”

Nedbank’s participation in Plug and Play's FinTech accelerator program abroad supports its commitment to source innovative digital enhancements to meet the changing needs of its clients. Nedbank has sponsored Play and Play’s Fintech initiative for close on two years and for each of the four batches that Nedbank has been involved in, the bank’s teams actively engaged with the startups to source new ideas and partnerships with the aim of delivering delightful client experiences and disruptive client value propositions.

“Our partnership with Nedbank has given our startups a successful route to expand their business to South Africa,” said Max Koenig, Director of Plug and Play FinTech, Silicon Valley. “The CIB group, responsible for innovation within Nedbank, has been instrumental in sourcing startups to digitally transform their company.” 

The Disruption Agenda is a closed event structured for Nedbank’s clients, while a public event for broader access to Plug and Play is envisioned to take place later in the year. The success of these engagements will form the basis of Plug and Play’s decision to accelerate plans to establish a permanent presence in Africa.

“The opportunity in Africa as a whole is endless and we view this event in September as an integral first step for opening and developing an Innovation Hub in South Africa in 2019” noted Saeed Amidi, Founder & CEO of Plug and Play.

“We believe that successful disruptors are those organisations that are able to see through their traditional functions and create new realities for their clients and businesses. In the process of transforming innovation thinkers to disruption leaders, these organisations have real potential to transform the economic reality of entire communities,” shares Van der Veen. 

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For more information about this press release please contact:

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

About Nedbank Group

Nedbank Group is a bank holding company listed on JSE Limited (JSE) with a market capitalisation of R125 billion as at 30 June 2018. Nedbank Group is one of Africa’s largest banking groups.Its principal banking subsidiary is Nedbank Limited, and the group is 54% majority owned by Old Mutual Limited (OML), which has a primary listing on the JSE with secondary listings in London, Zimbabwe, Malawi, and Namibia. Nedbank Group owns subsidiaries and banks in Namibia, Swaziland, Malawi, Mozambique, Lesotho and Zimbabwe, and offshore in the Isle of Man, Guernsey and Jersey. It also has representative offices in other Southern Africa countries, including Angola and Kenya, and has key global financial centres to provide international banking services for SA-based multinational and high-net-worth clients in London, Toronto and Dubai (UAE).We are a diversified financial services provider, offering a wide range of wholesale and retail banking services, as well as insurance, asset management and wealth management solutions.

For more information, visit https://www.nedbank.co.za/ 

About Plug and Play:

Plug and Play is a global innovation platform. Headquartered in Silicon Valley, we have built accelerator programs, corporate innovation services, and an in-house VC to make technological advancement progress faster than ever before. Since inception in 2006, our programs have expanded worldwide to include a presence in over 20 locations globally giving startups the necessary resources to succeed in Silicon Valley and beyond. With over 6,000 startups and 220 official corporate partners, we have created the ultimate startup ecosystem in many industries.We provide active investments with 200 leading Silicon Valley VCs, and host more than 700 networking events per year. Companies in our community have raised over $7 billion in funding, with successful portfolio exits including Danger, Dropbox, Lending Club, PayPal, SoundHound, and Zoosk.

For more information, visit www.plugandplaytechcenter.com

Startupbootcamp AfriTech empowers the top innovative African tech startups, linking them to the fastest-moving corporates on the continent.

Cape Town, 12 July 2018 – Startupbootcamp (SBC) AfriTech today announced the Top 10 African Innovators selected to participate in the globally renowned, multi-corporate backed accelerator programme for 2018. Post an intensive 3-month global scouting tour, across 15 countries, and inclusive of 19 FastTrack events and 220 face-to-face startup engagements, the SBC AfriTech team received 1,004 applications from 73 countries in total, attracting double the applications from its inaugural launch in 2017. The applications were shortlisted to the top 22 startup teams that were flown down to pitch their businesses over 2-days to some of the most progressive leaders in the innovation space in Africa, including corporate sponsors, mentors and investors.

The SBC AfriTech programme (previously SBC Africa) ended on a record high in 2017 with 32 corporate agreements in pilots and proof-of-concepts signed by close of the accelerator. “Our inaugural year was big, it was bold,” comments Zachariah George, co-founder and Chief Investment Officer of SBC AfriTech, “Our phenomenal success of last year has made us the only truly global accelerator for tech ventures in partnership with dynamic corporates on the African continent – we are accelerating the next wave of innovation in Africa.”

The top 10 African Innovators selected are:

Akiba Digital, South Africa: A financial savings platform and personal savings coach that leverages A.I., machine learning and gamification to democratize wealth in Africa.

Bankly Technologies, Nigeria: A goal-based savings product that digitizes cash and enables in-country, peer-to-peer transfer services through the use of vouchers available nationwide.

Brandbook Analytics, South Africa: A mobile application providing users free gift-card coupons for completed purchases with the ability to harvest vast amounts of consumer data and improved forecasting and analytics.

CredPal, Nigeria: An innovative solution using deep data that provides individuals with instant access to credit at the point of checkout for various online and offline merchants.

Digitech Group, Ivory Coast: Provides incumbent insurance companies an omni-channel and cloud-based digital platform to sell insurance products through mobile and web.

Inclusive Financial Technologies, Ghana: Inclusive FT’s API helps digital financial services reach the most remote customers across Africa by enabling them to onboard, verify and monitor them via digital channels.

Kudimoney Bank, Nigeria: A no-charge, full-service, online-only bank making banking services more affordable and more accessible by offering an interest-earning spending account with zero charges, a savings account with above-average interest rates and access to low interest instant loans.

Lüla, South Africa: A mobility-as-a-service platform that connects stakeholders to improve mobility by providing transport that is convenient, accessible and safe and enabling operators, cities and passengers to have easy access and understanding of transport.

MPost, Kenya: A patented solution providing legally recognized physical addresses for the 95% of the African population that do not have a postal address.

Prospa, South Africa: A micro-savings solution for low-income earning South Africans, allowing users to purchase savings vouchers at traders that entitle the user to a set amount of savings which are deposited into a mobi-savings account.

The 10 selected tech startups have a month to ready themselves for the 3-month accelerator that will kick off on August 13th in Cape Town and culminate with the Demo Day on November 8th when they will pitch to the world.

To the Top 10, Philip Kiracofe says: “You are here because your solution is market-ready and the sponsors want to work with you starting from today. The next 3 months are going to be absolutely exhilarating. We are going to be here side-by-side, shoulder-to-shoulder, pushing you, cajoling you, encouraging you, nurturing you, mentoring you and helping you achieve 12 – 18 months’ worth of growth in a 3-month span. On Demo Day you’re not going to believe that just 3 months ago you were standing where you are today. Congratulations and good luck.”

SBC AfriTech is anchored and endorsed by heavyweight corporate sponsors RCS, BNP Paribas Personal Finance, Old Mutual, Nedbank and PwC. The programme also has local service partners Brevity Law, Cloudworx, Inner City Ideas Cartel, and The Loudhailer and is globally supported by Cisco and Amazon Web Services.

As support gathers for Africa’s first Artificial Intelligence Expo, top names in the AI field have signed up for the event that will allow C-Suite Executives from across all industries to understand, embrace and implement AI in their businesses.

AI ExpoAfrica will take place on 9 – 11 September 2018 at the Century City Conference Centre in Cape Town, South Africa. It is focused on real-world applications and trends driving the Artificial Intelligence economy in Africa and seeking to build an AI Business-focused community across the continent.

AI ExpoAfrica 2018 is aimed at the C-Suite and Enterprise decision-makers who are grappling to understand how AI applications can add value or impact their business today. With emerging technology breakthroughs in AI now going mainstream, understanding the business opportunity from both a supplier and client perspective has never been more paramount.

In attendance at the event will be 400 delegates, 27 speakers with 5 keynote addresses, as well as more than 28 AI exhibitors. There will also be Innovation Café housing more than 20 AI startups.

Companies and organisations at the forefront of research, investment and implementation in Artificial Intelligence across Africa such as SAP Africa, TransUnion Africa, Data Prophet, LARC AI, Siatik, MIIA (Machine Intelligence Institute of Africa), Clevva, Knife Capital, Startupbootcamp Africa, Cortex Logic, Sw7, Silicon Cape, Mint and Amani Business to name a few have already signed up or endorsed the event:

Lee Naik, CEO TransUnion Africa & Digital Transformation Expert stated: “Technology will always be one of the biggest disruptors in our industries. As a business leader myself, I have seen first-hand how the power of disruption can either cause chaos for a business or provide it with an opportunity to innovate and differentiate itself in new and exciting ways. This is why platforms like AI ExpoAfrica are so valuable: it brings CxOs, investors and innovators together to engage in real-world discussions around technologies disrupting enterprises, markets and clients. Together with my fellow speakers I look forward to sharing my perspective and some insights around what these disruptors mean for our industries.”

Frans Cronjé, MD of DataProphet said: “We are really excited to be part of AI ExpoAfrica - to showcase some of the great results of AI we have implemented in the manufacturing environment and share our experiences in seeing AI integrated into business processes, both in the local and international market. AI often goes unmentioned in Industry 4.0 conversations - but is a critical component in giving a factory its own ability to learn from its mistakes.

Keith Jones, Sw7 Co-Founder, who will be leading the Plenary and case study track as moderator at AI ExpoAfrica said: "As we see the effect of connected markets, digitisation, mobility, IoT, interoperability and big data drive access to, and increase the quality of, data business will increasingly be driven by machine-assisted decisions. The ability to leverage the available data assets to make informed decisions quickly will be what drives strategic advantage in the future. This will affect all market sectors, not just the digitised markets. AI ExpoAfrica is creating a platform to connect businesses with the community that is driving this exciting sector. The goal is to educate delegates about what is possible and connect them with people in the sector. The real-world aspect of this event will have great appeal to any business leader seeking to explore and acquire both innovative and proven AI-based solutions.”

Dr Jacques Ludik, Founder & President of MIIA & Cortex Logic CEO, will be serving as Track Moderator at the event and stated, “It’s great to see AI ExpoAfrica focusing on the real-world applications of AI. Their novel approach to include large enterprise platform and service vendors, alongside AI startup innovators coupled to a CxO audience containing decision-makers and investors makes for a perfect mix. It’s a great opportunity to see how AI is now impacting many aspects of Commerce and Enterprise in Africa, and delegates will gain great value from attending.”

The event will showcase AI Cloud platform providers, Tier 1 and 2 deployment and service providers, AI startups, investors, educators, government and AI ecosystem community builders. The event will give those attending a real feel for what’s available now or in the near future.

With six themes and three tracks, the event is focused on real Enterprise AI case studies and the application of AI in Business, AI deployment challenges, ethics and skills plus the business innovation driving current deployment trends across all industry sectors.If you would like to join the event as a delegate or if you’d like to be an exhibitor, join the Innovation Café or apply for a speaking opportunity, please visit our website: www.aiexpoafrica.com.  

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Notes for Editors:

For more information on this press release or AI ExpoAfrica 2018, please contact:

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