Aspiring Innovators Programme catapulting African tech startups

The goal of this programme is to both support the African startup technology community, as well as provide Symposium delegates access to new local technology providers.

Selected by a team of Gartner research analysts, the startup companies have the opportunity to profile their solutions in front of an audience who are actively looking for new partners and solutions. The Aspiring Innovators are also afforded a chance to engage one-on-one with senior IT decision-makers who visit their stands.

“We are pleased to have MTN Business back for a third year as the corporate sponsor of the Aspiring Innovator Programme. The selected innovators will join MTN Business on the ITxpo floor to showcase and discuss their solutions with Symposium delegates. MTN Business’ continued support for this very important initiative allows talented startups the chance to effectively reach important target markets, which would otherwise take significant time, effort and cost,” explains Jeffery Mann, Symposium chairperson.

Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2017

The Gartner Symposium/ITxpo 2017 will take place in Cape Town from 18-21 September 2017. Delegates will learn how to take advantage of digital opportunities to transform their organisations and evolve their own IT leadership to drive change and become central to the new digital business world.

Who can apply?

Gartner is looking for early-stage startups* that meet the following criteria:

• Your company is based in Africa
  
• Your company has fewer than 50 employees and less than R20 million annual revenue
  
• Your product or solution supports B2B or corporate B2C use cases (we are not looking for purely consumer products)
  
• Your product or solution is in production or beta, with at least two customers
  
• Your company was not chosen for any previous Aspiring Innovator Programmes

Apply by sending your contact details, a ‘company CV’ and a short description of why your product is innovative to moc.rentrag@srotavonnIgniripsa by 14 April 2017.

*Subsidiaries of, or products developed by large companies are excluded, as are Gartner clients and prospects.