Ugandan startups are among the many others in Sub-Saharan Africa that will battle in an innovation competition being organized by a U.S.-based technology media company, TechCrunch.
Dubbed Startup Battlefield Africa, the event is going to be held in Lagos, Nigeria on December 11, and this is the second time it is being hosted, after the first one that was held last year in Nairobi, Kenya.
TechCrunch say they are looking for Sub-Saharan Africa’s best innovators, makers, and technology entrepreneurs. “We’re looking for startups most likely to produce an exit or IPO and startups of any kind may apply,” reads a statement about the event. “TechCrunch will host the event in Lagos in front of a live audience and top judges, and the show will be covered on TechCrunch. The judges will choose a winner, ‘Sub-Saharan Africa’s Most Promising Startup’”
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Application
According to TechCrunch, any startup is free to submit their application, but it is only 15 startups that are deemed most likely to produce an exit or IPO that will be considered for the second phase of the competition. The selection is conducted by TechCrunch editors. After this level, the founders of the competing teams will receive free pitch coaching from TechCrunch, and they’ll be ready to face a panel of judges (recruited by our editors), all experts in their categories.
The 15 startups that will have succeeded at the screening by the TechCrunch editors will then proceed for a presentation that will involve a six minute-pitch session. The judges will then have six minutes to ask questions. From here, only 5 startups will be selected for the final showdown at the main event in Lagos.
Over forty countries from Sub Saharan Africa will be competing and TechCrunch says that competing startups should be headquartered in one of the eligible countries, be at “launch” stage, have a fully working product/beta, reasonably close to or in production, should have received limited press or publicity to date and have no known intellectual property conflicts.
Application is already ongoing.
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