Inaugural Telecel ASIP Accelerator Demo Day holds in Dakar

All roads lead to Dakar, Senegal this month for the first cohort of the Telecel Group Africa Startup Initiative Program (ASIP) Accelerator Demo Day.

After a grueling three months of pivots and business development facilitated by leading tech accelerator, Startupbootcamp Afritech, the Top 11 startups will showcase their work to a live audience on 30 September 2021.

Taking place at the Dhub – a space commissioned by the General Delegation for the Rapid Entrepreneurship of Women and Youth (DER/FJ) and established by the President of the Republic of Senegal, His Excellency Mr. Macky Sall – the live demo day will see participating startups demonstrate their pivotal journeys on a global stage and pitch products to interested stakeholders in breakout rooms afterward.

The live demo day will also be complemented by an online version taking place on Friday, October 1, 2021.

Demo Day is an opportunity for international investors and corporate sponsors to have a first look at some of Africa’s most innovative solutions for key industries across the fields of FinTech, InsureTech, AgriTech, eCommerce, Digital Health, and CleanTech.

The event also sees startups spend ten days in Senegal, getting acquainted with the ecosystem and meeting various influential stakeholders from the public and private sectors.

“We are excited to share the tremendous progress that the 11 startups have made over the course of the past three months,” announced Startupbootcamp Afritech’s Chief Disruptor, Philip Kiracofe.

“We are also grateful for our incredible sponsors, DER/FJ for hosting us in Senegal, which is quickly emerging as one of the most vibrant and promising tech ecosystems on the African continent.”

The build-up to this year’s cohort saw the three-month accelerator attract 2,230 applications from across Africa.

Of these entries, the leading 22 tech teams were invited to attend the final selection days, and after a grueling selection process, the Top 11 were selected to participate in this year’s event.

“The journey to demo day has been an eye-opener for us at the Telecel Group,” added Telecel Group Executive Deputy and ASIP Director, Eleanor Azar.

“The 11 startups that were selected to take part in this program are all exceptional – they are the future businesses that will lead economies on the African continent.

We look forward to seeing them in Dakar and anticipate that their progress in the past three months will be tremendous.”

Anchored by telecoms giant Telecel Group and founded in 2018 by Telecel Group CEO, Moh Damush, ASIP aims to support the next generation of leading, early-stage disruptive tech startups across Africa with sponsorship and investment opportunities.

In addition, participating startups receive tools and networks that they needed to prove their concepts, scale their operations, and in some cases, transform their business models.

To register for the event, visit here.

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