Draper Startup House (DSH) has established its first location in Southern Africa in Lusaka, Zambia through a partnership with BongoHive, the country’s first technology and innovation hub.
Draper Startup House (DSH) is a global network of spaces related to services, education, and investment that was founded in Singapore in 2018 by Vikram Bharati as Tribe Theory, a dormitory concept for digital nomads.
With over 35,000 community members in 60 countries who tap into its education, technology services, investment, and community resources, DSH is a unit of the Draper Venture Network founded by Timothy Cook Draper, the US venture capital investor.
Draper also founded Draper Fisher Jurvetson (DFJ), Draper University, and Draper Associates, and his most well-known investments include Baidu, Hotmail, Skype, Tesla, SpaceX, AngelList, Twitter, Coinbase, Robinhood, and Focus Media.
BongoHive was founded in 2011 in Zambia with the goal of assisting scalable startups of all types by improving skills, accelerating growth, developing networks, promoting collaboration, idea exchanges, and lowering barriers to entrepreneurship.
DSH regional manager for East and Southern Africa, Phuong Phan, said Zambia shared borders with eight countries in a region with deep culture and trading bonds, and that BongoHive shared DSH’s values and ambitions to serve entrepreneurs.
“So it’s a good starting point for us to get connected across Southern Africa. It has been such a pleasure getting to know and to collaborate with the BongoHive team, they are incredibly supportive and well organised,” said Phan.
BongoHive executive director Lukonga Lindunda said Zambia was aiming at becoming the key technology hub for the region, and that DSH would give its local startup founders direct access to education, mentorship, and funding resources.