DEMO Africa, the continent’s first launch pad for technology startups, has received a sponsorship deal worth $20,000 from Software and chip development giant, Intel, as a boost for this year’s conference to be held in Nairobi come October.
Expressing his gratitude for the support, DEMO Africa Executive Producer Harry Hare said: “I would like to take this chance to thank Intel for supporting DEMO Africa, which is that one chance where a hand-selected class of new products are introduced to the world for the very first time to global press, investors, strategic partners and buyers.”
Presenting the sponsorship deal was Agatha Gikunda, Lead for Intel Software and Services Group in East Africa.
“By sponsoring DEMO Africa we see this as an opportunity to enable local tech start-ups nurture their skills and get exposure on the global stage. These are critical components in the growth of the local software economy,” said Gikunda.
“We are very excited about the growing developer engagement in Africa and seek to increase collaborations with tech hubs, independent software vendors and universities in order to build a foundation for robust solutions and industry innovation,” she added.
This will be the second time in a row the DEMO Africa conference is held in Nairobi, after a successful inaugural event in October 2012, that saw over 40 startups from all over Africa present their companies to potential investors.
Last year’s conference could be termed as a success, as many startups that presented their ideas to the attendants have secured funding and important deals with various leading companies.