Southern Africa Startup Awards, a circuit of the Global Startup Awards which first arrived in Africa in 2017 and launched it Southern Africa (SADC) region in 2018, has a mission to connect, support, and celebrate key players in national and regional startup ecosystems worldwide and to fuse them together on a global entrepreneurial network.
The initiative creates a matrix of opportunities for international partnerships, commercial exchange, and investment opportunities. This is done through a ‘bottom-up’ strategy with local startup ecosystems that put the founders and startup ecosystem supporters first.
More than 2,400 nominations from organisations and individuals across 15 countries were submitted for the 2019 edition.
The national finalists from Lesotho are:
| Best Accelerator or Incubator Program | College of Cooperative Entrepreneurship and Business Studies |
| Best FoodTech/ AgriTech Startup | AgriTech Solutions |
| Best Newcomer | Girls Coding Academy |
| Best Social Impact Startup | Girls Coding Academy |
| Best Startup Ecosystem Initiative | StartupGrind Maseru |
| Founder of the Year | Qxabashe Bricks |
