Silicon Valley based African Technology Foundation (ATF) has been appointed as the Managing Partner of the Liberalizing Innovation Opportunity Nations ([email protected]) partnership, the DEMO Africa organizers.
LIONS Africa is an initiative of the Secretary’s Office of Global Partnerships at the U.S. Department of State and aims to catalyze innovation ecosystems across the continent and built bridges for African startups to showcase their talent in Silicon Valley and beyond.
“We are very proud to have supported various initiatives within [email protected] over the last few years, and we certainly look forward to broadening the partnership and multiplying the opportunities available to African startups, entrepreneurs, innovators and investors,” said Stephen Ozoigbo, CEO, ATF and new Managing Partner. “The partnership is poised to build a leading network of innovation stakeholders that are betting on Africa’s entrepreneurial future”.
As the Managing Partner of the [email protected] partnership, ATF will be responsible for directly supporting African startups with capacity building and training in venture creation, opportunities for connectivity to global innovation grids, access to capital, opportunities for further partnership expansion, and promotion of best practices and successes in African-led innovation solutions.
ATF will host a series of innovation boot camps, venture capital engagements, and roundtables both in Africa and in Silicon Valley to promote direct engagement with private sector stakeholders, multinational corporations and innovation agencies into the African entrepreneurial ecosystem.
Since 2012, [email protected] has revolutionized the innovation and entrepreneurship landscape on the continent through a series of programs such as DEMO Africa – which connects African startups to the global ecosystem and especially to investors and industry stakeholders.
Over the last five editions of DEMO Africa, approximately 180 of Africa’s most promising startups have presented their uniquely African technology solutions to much fanfare, and the summit has successfully positioned some of the startups to receive about $14 million (USD) in aggregate funding over the same period.
“Real startups are being created in Africa, developing real-world solutions worthy of investment and global attention,” remarked Constance Tzioumis, Director of Partnerships in the Secretary’s Office of Global Partnerships. “This partnership with ATF will expand the [email protected] partnership footprint and leverage diverse resources for strengthening and deepening the African startup ecosystem”.
Under ATF’s leadership, [email protected] will also be convening a multi-stakeholder advisory council that will oversee the operations of the [email protected] Partnership in accordance with the program charter and other policies that satisfy the goals and objectives of the partnership. Interested parties can request more information here.
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