AfricArena hosts Southern Africa Summit this May

AfricArena will be hosting the Southern Africa Summit, taking place from 19-20 May, at Workshop 17 in Johannesburg. The two-day conference will feature pitches from 20+ startups operating in Southern Africa, between Seed stage and Growth stage, as well as keynotes and panel discussions from the top minds in business, tech and investment in the region.

11 May 2021

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A series of regional events

AfricArena is an African tech ecosystem accelerator. Through events, AfricArena accelerates the growth of tech startups and the ecosystems in which they operate by providing a platform where they can share their business model, gain valuable networks and attain funding.

This year, AfricArena will organise four hybrid events across four regions in Africa, in building up to the annual AfricArena Summit in Cape Town. The regional events will bring together startups, investors and corporations operating in the Region. Approximately 25 startups from the region will be selected to pitch at the regional event. Those events will act as a semi-final pitch session before the Grand Summit in Cape Town in December 2021.

Southern Africa Summit

A day preceding the two-day conference, pitching startups will be taking part in a series of workshops, a day-long bootcamp facilitated by local incubator by the French South African Tech Labs (FSAT Labs).

Over the two days, the Summit expects just over 20 startups to showcase their innovative solutions. Most of these startups were pre-selected through a series of virtual pitch sessions that took place between 15 and 29 April 2021.

Pitching startups

Seed track: Appload (Mozambique); Sparco (Zambia); Mohiri (Botswana); Viero Tech (South Africa); LumaLaw (South Africa); 123Tutors (South Africa); Mechanico (South Africa); ZPOS (Zambia); Sorted (South Africa)

Series A track: Lupiya (Zambia); Carscan (South Africa); Sendmarc (South Africa); LocumBase (South Africa); JobJack (South Africa); Franc (South Africa)
Growth stage track: EMguidance (South Africa); ReachRepublic (South Africa)

Speakers

There’s a diverse and content-rich line-up of speakers from across specialities and experiences featuring at the Summit. Keynote presentations include:

Vincent Viviers - Co-founder of Bottles App - speaking on “Scaling a tech startup & being acquired by a corporate.”
Olivier Laouchez - CEO of TRACE Group - speaking on “Youth Education through Media.”
Zach George - Co-founder of Startupbootcamp AfriTech and Principal at Nedbank Venture Capital - speaking on “The Exponential Impact of Venture Capital in Africa.”
Matsi Modise - Vice-Chairperson: SIMODISA and Founder & CEO: Furaha Afrika Holdings - speaking on “Start-up Act in South Africa.”
Abu Cassim - Founder of Jozi Angels - speaking on “Angel Investment: funding Seed stage in Sub Saharan Africa.”
Marie Francoise Marie-Nelly - Country Director, Southern Africa: The World Bank - speaking on “Scaling the Southern Africa ecosystem to the next level.”

Panel discussion speakers include: Lelemba Phiri (Catalyst Fund); Rajiv Daya (Founders Factory Africa); Renier Kriel (FSAT Labs); Murendeni Mafumo (Kusini Water), and more.

"We are very excited by the caliber of companies pitching for this two day event. The Summit will feature tech talents from five Southern African countries and over 10 industries. Every Regional Summit we do, choosing the best startups is challenging because there are so many great innovative solutions out there." says Leo Boisnier, Ecosystem Manager at AfricArena.

Book your tickets for the Southern Africa Summit.