As the world works towards greater digital inclusion for all, the SADC Innovation Challenge delivered a Virtual Demo Day driven by the demand for financial inclusion at the base of the pyramid.
The region’s most promising digital solutions faced an audience made up of investors, corporate organisations and members of the general public, with the three innovative founders presenting their solutions, all aimed at promoting financial independence for residents.
The founders of the three ventures, Digital Diamond (Botswana), Moneychaps (Botswana) and Phema Agri (Tanzania) were able to present their Investor ready pitches whilst engaging some of the most active VCs and angel investors in a Live Q&A session featuring jury panelists from the top venture capitalists:
Lebogang Mokgabudi, Catalyst Fund; Tsendai Chagwedera, EchoVC; Hannah Subayi, Proparco; Aunnie Power Patton, Intelligent Impact; Abu Cassim, Jozi Angels; Phokwane Moloele of Alitheia IDF and Sarah Dusek of Enygma Ventures.
Also read, FinMark Trust and HYBR announce the SADC Innovation Challenge Demo Day
The demo day which was hosted virtually on Thursday 25th February and livestreamed via publicly accessible platforms, Facebook and Youtube, enjoyed a live audience of over 250+ viewers.
The highly produced and curated, three hour long event featured thought leadership presentations by prominent individuals including:
Ms. Charity Luchembe Chikumbi of FSD Zambia, Dario Giuliani, Founder and Director of Briter Bridges and Osazuwa Osayi, Co-founder and Co-CEO of Farmforte.
These presentations addressed vital issues affecting the tech ecosystem and included conversations on Ai/Regtech in Africa, Financial Inclusion as well as the challenges and opportunities of Agritech in Africa.
Dumisani Dube, Head of Innovation at FinMark Trust said about the Event, “this event was a major milestone, taking place exactly 12 months from when the SADC Innovation and Investment Challenge was launched in February 2020.
The Demo Day was a great event and the ventures did well in showcasing their products to the potential investors.”
The Virtual Demo day which was the culmination of the SADC Innovation and Investment Challenge was designed with the ultimate aim of creating a platform for the three post-incubation to share their progress with potential investors, while also advancing the conversation about the tech and innovation ecosystem in Africa.
Discussing his experience of the Demo Day, one of the founders, Thabiso Mabaka of MoneyChaps explained,
“This programme was really a blessing.. It was a game changer for me personally and my venture. As for the Demo day all I can say is I am grateful for the opportunity to showcase my solution at that level and I am really excited for all the opportunities that it exposed me to. “
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