After an intense evaluation process by a panel of over 10 investors, 25 exceptional startups from across the region will compete to win market recognition and investor interest during the PIVOT East pitching competition and conference.
The 25 finalists, 5 from each category were selected from the 50 semifinalists announced two weeks ago. Out of the 25 startups that made it to the finalists, 15 are from Kenya. 5 of the startups are from Uganda and 3 from Tanzania. Ethiopia and Rwanda are represented in the list by one startup each. This year’s edition of PIVOT East promises to be hotly contested with countries like Uganda, Tanzania and Ethiopia having strong startups in the finalists. For each category a 6th best startup has been placed in a waiting list and may pitch at the conference if a finalist in the category drops out for any reason.
The startups that have made it to the finals are;
- Finance category; EdgePoint Company Ltd and Andrea Consulting (Tanzania), BusinessTYC (Ethiopia), DusuPay.com (Uganda) and Inclusion Media (Kenya)
- Enterprise category; Mobiticket, Travo, Kleva Plus and e-Kodi (Kenya) and Ajira (Tanzania)
- Entertainment category ; Request Africa Limited, Dream Africa, Cloud 9 Kenya and Covercloud Ltd (Kenya) and Tamithi Ltd (Uganda)
- Utilities category; Tech Water Solutions, myhr, Mobilized Construction and weSurf (Kenya) and Aloyo Electronics (Uganda)
- Social Impact category; MobFit and SkoolDesk (Uganda), Flare and Medulla Shelf (Kenya) and Techno Stuffs Ltd (Rwanda).
Here is the full list of the finalists with a brief description of their product.
Startups in the waiting list are; Rogech Animation & Visual Effects and Simon Tito Foods from Tanzania and MyAfya, SapamaERP.com and ForeverAppy Ltd (Vivi) from Kenya. Finalists of the competition will receive training, coaching and mentorship in the weeks to come before the pitching conference. These pre-conference activities assist the finalists to improve key elements of their business models and the positioning of their startups to the rich audience at the conference.
Startups in the waiting list will also benefit from the training, coaching and mentoring given to the finalists. PIVOT East competition aims to facilitate discovery and nurturing of the next wave of high potential innovations into sustainable business, ensuring that digital innovations are high in the agenda of regional, governments, corporates and development agencies for amplified development impact and to raise the quality of startups in the region. PIVOT East is much more than just a pitching competition – it is a holistic platform for startup organizational development and business model refinement . The competition has seen startups from across the region that made it to the finals grow their businesses in terms of revenue growth and access to funding among other enterprise growth indicators.
