AfricArena, which provides open innovation challenges, research and dealflow services to help accelerate the work of founders, investors and corporates, will be hosting its fifth annual Summit on 16 - 17 November in Cape Town - and will be preceded by its Founders’ Bootcamp and VC Unconference Weekends. About AfricArena Since its inception in 2017, AfricArena has been a platform dedicated to supporting the creation of market access and investment opportunities for its ever-increasing community of founders, angels, corporates and VC investors.
Designed with a digital approach in mind, AfricArena consists of a series of investment deal flow events and interventions and an open-source platform for all stakeholders, all based on principles of open innovation and entrepreneurship. Since 2017, the AfricArena brand has rapidly gained enormous credibility in the tech startup ecosystem with alumni startups having raised over $250million in the past 4 years. The AfricArena Tour The AfricArena Summit is the culmination of a year-long build up of events realised through the AfricArena Tour. During the course of the year, we reviewed over 1 000 startups from over 30 countries in that process. Pre-selection pitch events took place at the major tech hubs of the African continent in search of highly potential startups. This year, AfricArena has run 4 hybrid regional summits, dedicated to Southern Africa in May 18-20, West Africa in June 22-23, East Africa in October 5-6 and North African ecosystems in October 13-14. These act as a semi-final selection event where ±25 startups are selected to pitch at the Grand Summit in Cape Town on November 16-17.21. AfricArena Grand Summit 2021 The AfricArena Summit features sponsors, such as Wesgro, French Embassy in South Africa, Saint Gobain, La French Tech, Amazon Web Services, City of Cape Town, SAVCA, International Trade Centre (ITC) and our key partners, Technology Innovation Agency (TIA), Orange Ventures, Smart Capital, Expertise France and The General Delegation for Rapid Entrepreneurship of Women and Youth (DER) Building on the success of the past four editions, AfricArena 2021 is accelerating the momentum, while taking into account required COVID-19 health and safety measures. In an effort to support entrepreneurship and economic contribution, an in-person Summit will take place on the 16th and 17th November 2020, at The Old Biscuit Mill (Lower Main Road, Woodstock) in Cape Town. The Summit will welcome startups, investors, corporates, media, institutional body representatives and representatives of ecosystem enablers such incubators and accelerators. The two-day event will feature 50+ startups from over 15 African countries pitching in various Open Innovation Challenges, including ones set by Saint Gobain; as well as investment tracks with Seed, Series A and Series B startups all pitching. The Summit will feature keynotes and panel discussions from esteemed figures in tech innovation, business and investment. Ahead of the Summit participants can look forward to a series of exciting side events all aimed at fostering and supporting startup collaboration, ecosystem development, investor relations and pipeline development. On the weekend leading up to the Summit, there will be two events running:
The Invite-only VC Unconference for investors active in the African tech space will take place at Arabella Hotel from the 11th to 13th of November. Top of the agenda for this unique event will be discussions around easing and enhancing the process of investing in Africa. The key objective of the Unconference will be to create a common knowledge-base aimed at establishing opportunities that enable fundraising co-investment deals across the African ecosystem. The Founders Bootcamp operated by French South African Tech Labs will be taking place at Workshop 17, Watershed from the 14th to 15th of November. The 2-day program will be attended by at least 50 high-level startups, who will be looking forward to networking with fellow startups. The program also features workshops and an opportunity for startups to share innovative ideas and get expert advice from investors. For the startups looking forward to this event, this is an opportunity for an unfiltered exchange of innovative ideas and initiate collaboration within the ecosystem. Side Events After all the pitching and attending workshops, the Summit signs off with two not to be missed networking events. Starting off with the VC Night, an event where startups and investors come together for a networking event, where startups share their ideas to potential investors, in an informal setup. Closing off the Grand Summit will be the Innovation Night, which will bring together tech innovators for an evening of creative exchange of ideas over a cocktail or drink, mix and mingle, network and form new connections. Recap of AfricArena events: 11 Nov - 13 Nov Invitation only VC Unconference at Arabella Hotel, Kleinmond 14 Nov - 15 Nov Invitation only Founders Bootcamp at Workshop 17 16 Nov 17 Nov - Grand Summit at Old Biscuit Mill 15 Nov - VC Night 16 Nov - Innovation Night “The AfricArena Summit is always buzzing with energy and a great place where stakeholders in the ecosystem can engage. Whether investors, entrepreneurs, policy makers or ecosystem supporters and builders like SAVCA, there is something for everyone and a great showcase of the talented entrepreneurs emanating from the African continent and the astute investors who support them”. Tanya van Lill SAVCA CEO Bintou Adekoya, COO of AfricArena added, “ After a year of regional events around the major tech hubs in Africa, we are excited to host the Grand Summit in person, where we will showcase and celebrate the African tech ecosystem. The summit will bring together the best
entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, and other major players in the technology and innovation scene to strengthen the African ecosystem”. Tickets Tickets for the Summit can be purchased here. For any questions or clarification on this press release, reach out to the AfricArena team at: crosby@africarena.com . For updates and more information follow us on our social channels: Facebook | Twitter | LinkedIn | Instagram | YouTube End. www.africarena.com