DEMO Africa’s five startups headed to Silicon Valley

No photo availableCIO Africa authorByJeanette Oloo
2 min read

The journey which began earlier this year with 723 applications from 46 countries then shortlisting was done on its first leg to…

On its fifth leg, DEMO Africa 2016 was a force
On its fifth leg, DEMO Africa 2016 was a force to be reckoned with, the two-day event which took place at Sandton Convention Centre, Johannesburg on 25 and 26 August for the first time had 27 startups garnering for the Silicon Valley destination.

The journey which began earlier this year with 723 applications from 46 countries then shortlisting was done on its first leg to bring about 131 applications and the final with 30 startups from 7 countries.

Out of the 27 startups only five get to head to Silicon Valley:

Strauss Energy (Kenya)

AN energy startups that sells electricity to homeowners and organizations cheaper than the national grid.The power is generated from the innovative BIPV Stima 2in1 solar roofing tiles that is manufactured in Kenya

Mediabox (South Africa)

MediaBox is a device that allows users watch both on-demand and live TV over the internet.

ConnectMed (South Africa)

Online machine learning-enabled telehealth platform that allows patients to seek treatment from expert doctors over video for common ailments, either directly through app (ConnectMed Prime) or indirectly through clinic partners (ConnectMed Care)

SORTD (South Africa)

The product suite is aimed at helping people escalate conversations into action right from the source.  Sortd will work seamlessly with Email, IM, Skype, Slack etc.

Solstice Energy Solutions (Nigeria)

Solstice helps Nigerian households save money by providing insight into energy consumption patterns by measuring both utility grid and generator usage. The integrated hardware & software platform provide data that can be used to track energy usage, set budgets, and get energy saving tips through the Solstice mobile app.

Prior to the event DEMO Africa held a two-day boot camp for the 27 startups during which they received coaching and mentoring on how to pitch to investors.

“The Demo Africa boot camp is a continuation of an online mentoring and coaching process we have in place for the finalists. Our experience has shown us that the Demo Africa finalists are at different development and maturity levels within their businesses. A lot of them are also technically minded rather than business-minded, so we refine them to think more about their business and what they are offering to investors,” said Harry Hare, Executive Director of Demo Africa.

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