Set to take place this September 22 to 26th at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria, DEMO Africa has today began its African innovation tour to over 16 countries in Africa to demonstrate what Demo is all about and get tech entreprenuers to apply in big numbers and preprare for it.
The first phase of the Innovation Tours will see the DEMO Team going to countries in Eastern and Southern Africa, and then followed by countries in West and North Africa. Uganda, Tanzania, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Ghana, Egypt, Cameroon and Nigeria are some of the countries that have confirmed to host the event.
Speaking at the first tour held today in Nairobi at Nailab, a startup business incubation centre DEMO Africa’s Executive Producer Harry Hare said, “Startups that have already launched before media and investors are discouraged to apply to DEMO Africa as that’s when they’re supposed to launch.”
Hare added that DEMO Africa tour is set to make entreprenuers aware of the different categories and requirements to apply. DEMO Africa will only shortlist the best forty startups based on their creativity, innovation, effectiveness and scalability.
The best forty will have a chance to launch their products to an ecosystem of VCs, investors, tech acquisition specialists, IT buyers and media from across the region and around the globe.
Also present at the premier tour, Ali Hussein Kassim,member of the advisory board DEMO Africa added that startups to be selected into DEMO Africa have to stand out from the rest even if that means they need to spellcheck then that’s what they need to do. He added that entreprenuers should try as much as possible to fill in all the sections as they are there for a reason.
DEMO 2014 is ongoing to close on 15th of June 2014. Start-ups are being called upon to submit their application through http://demoafrica2014.com. The event has also partnred with online venture capital platform VC4Africa to help startups apply into DEMO Africa and also get access to opportunities for mentorship, raising capital and more.
“We are first targeting countries with an active technology startup ecosystem to encourage them and prepare them to submit quality applications,” said Mbugua Njihia, DEMO Africa’s Event Director.
In a move to be more reflective of the needs in Africa and expressed optimism that Africa gaps will be better filled within the new fields, DEMO Africa recently introduced agriculture, Health, Education, Manufacturing and Retail as new categories. Other categories include Media and Entertainment, Communication, Transport and Logistics, Energy, Finance and Banking, Water and Sanitation and Waste Management and Recycling.
DEMO Africa is orgainzed in partnership with LIONS@FRICA partners (which include Microsoft, Nokia, US State Department, DEMO, USAID, African Development Bank, and Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies.
Delegate registration is already open and those wishing to attend can take advantage of the early bird registration here http://bit.ly/1iwGWQb
The event is being supported by the U.S. Agency for International Development, DEMO, Startup Weekend, Appfrica, Business Action for Africa, Business Fights Poverty, and Venture Hive.