Co-creation Hub (CcHUB) and Google for Entrepreneurs, have launched PitchDrive, a three week, five-city European tech hub tour across London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Zurich and Paris to bring 15 elite African tech companies together to pitch to investors, explore international opportunities and learn about frontier technology markets.
Starting in London on 14th of August 2017, the cohort will visit Google’s Campus London, TQ Amsterdam, Factory Berlin and Impact Hub in Zurich, concluding at NUMA Paris in a move that will see the inaugural cohort pitch to over 300 investors and raise over €20M in the three week period.
According to David Grunwald, Head of Global Partnerships Google for Entrepreneurs, “Entrepreneurs from across Africa are building world-class tech companies, and we are delighted to be able to use the power of the Google for Entrepreneurs network to showcase their fantastic products to audiences in some of Europe’s most important tech ecosystems”
PitchDrive will provide mentorship and support from notable tech founders well versed in fund raising, including Iroko Founder and CEO Jason Njoku, Saidah Nash Carter of Reuters, Stephen Newton of Illuminate Africa and David Grunwald of Google for Entrepreneurs.
Applications are now open for African tech startups who are in a position to fundraise at seed stage and above. Those looking to apply must have been running for at least two years, and be a legal, registered enterprise able to demonstrate a minimum of 12 months revenue-generating operations and must be based in Africa. Ideally, startups will also have a strong management team who have worked together for at least 12 months and the founding team should own between 30-60% of the business with a high quality board. Founders must also be available for a three week period through the Summer of 2017.
Applicants should be tech enabled or proprietary/patented tech validated by large reputable corporate customers (where applicable), relates to retail, mobile, financial technology, health or agriculture or have a high differentiation of technology / know how.
“Google started in a garage two decades ago. Our bus is the equivalent of their garage. We hope that with the support of Google for Entrepreneurs on the PitchDrive tour, we may secure capital to launch a new trajectory for one or two African unicorns of the future,” said ‘Bosun Tijani, CcHub Founder and CEO.
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