DEMO Africa Announces 2013 Top 40 Startups

Africa’s technology startup launchpad, DEMO Africa, has finally announced the list of top 40 startups out of the 300 applications received from over 24 African countries.

South Africa has a total of 12 startups in the final 40, followed by Kenya with nine statups. Egypt, Nigeria, and Tanzania have five, four and two startups respectively. Other countries represented include Ghana, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Senegal, Uganda and Morocco each with one startup in the final list.

Speaking at a press conference, Harry Hare, DEMO Africa executive producer said: “The entries this year certainly kept up with the DEMO Africa spirit to produce innovative and creative ideas that are bound to transform the technology landscape and we are excited by the growth of innovation and technological advancement in Africa as portrayed by our finalists.”

Mbugua Njihia, the co-ordinator of the 2013 DEMO Africa conference said that 19 out of the 40 startups fell under the consumer segment focusing mostly on social media, mobile and consumer, creating a gap in the enterprise business sector.

Hare insisted on the fact that DEMO Africa was not a startup competition, but rather a platform for entrepreneurs to present their projects to potential investors and business partners.

Muchiri Nyaggah, one of DEMO Africa judges, said that the entries received this year demonstrated the need for increased investment in ICT education, to guarantee the mobile solutions created by the innovators are exploited in the global arena.

“While we are not able to support all the ideas and innovation that we received, we will engage the finalists on ways through which they can move their businesses to the next level and polish up on their ideas in preparation to meet their potential investors, partners or clients,” Hare concluded.

DEMO Africa will take place in October 24 and 25 in Nairobi Kenya.

The full list of the final 40 can be found here.