Lori Systems has won the fist TechCrunch Battlefield Africa 2017 held in Nairobi and is headed to San Francisco to compete at the global Startup Battlefield.
Lori Systems won US$25,000 in cash plus an all-expense paid trip for two to compete in the Battlefield at TechCrunch’s flagship event, Disrupt San Francisco 2018.
TechCrunch Startup Battlefield Africa 2017, sponsored by Facebook, searched for Sub-Saharan Africa’s best innovators, makers and technical entrepreneurs. The event – the first ever TechCrunch startup competition in Africa.
Fifteen African companies were shortlisted from 700 entries and competed to be chosen as Sub-Saharan Africa’s Most Promising Startup. Startup Battlefield has been bringing world-class founders into the spotlight since 2007, and 700 contestants have gone on to raise $7 billion in funding and rack up nearly 100 exits. Battlefield Alumni include Mint, Dropbox, Yammer, TripIt, Getaround and Cloudflare.
Ned Desmond, COO at TechCrunch said, “We decided to bring the Battlefield to Sub-Saharan Africa because its tech market is on the rise—the region has produced its first unicorn in the shape of Jumia, exits are increasingly frequent, and global venture capitalists are taking note. Our judges were impressed by the high quality of the finalists, their creativity and their focus on solving real problems, often with limited resources.
