 |
| Nairobi Community Leads |
Facebook this week celebrated the achievements of a fast-growing
community of African tech entrepreneurs and developers, at the first-ever
TechCrunch Startup Battlefield in Africa, sponsored by Facebook. Alongside the
event, the company also hosted a week of activities bringing together hot
African startups, developers, influencers and community leaders - to share
ideas, learn and connect.
 |
| Members of the Developer circle |
Putting the spotlight on Africa’s creative, diverse talent and
vibrant technology companies, that are building products and solving
problems for local and global audiences, TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield
Africa saw 15 startups battle it out to win a US$25,000 prize. Nairobi-based
Lori Systems, with its product and service in the Productivity and Utility
category, was crowned the overall winner for its logistics and cargo platform
for African businesses.
Other winners included:
· Gaming and entertainment category winner:
Ghanaian based SynCommerce, which lets users list and manage their products and
inventory across multiple sales platforms i.e. Shopify, eBay, Etsy
· Social good category winner: Ghanian based
AgroCenta, an online marketplace for African farmers.
Participant, Lanre Oyedotun, Cofounder & CEO of Delivery
Science, a Nigeria based startup, commented: “It’s a great experience
to be part of Battlefield. It's encouraging that global brands like Facebook
and TechCrunch are recognizing the talent in Africa. Our solution,
FieldInsight, helps large organizations get visibility into their field
operations. To be able to showcase this on a Pan-African platform is a
privilege.
Speaking at Startup Battlefield Africa, Ime Archibong, Facebook’s
Vice President of Partnerships, said: “Congratulations to all the
finalists. I've been so impressed with what I've seen today. Africa truly is a
continent with remarkable creativity and talent - it was amazing to see
some of Africa's best innovators, makers and technical entrepreneurs showcase
their disruptive innovations and tell their stories. I'm looking forward
to what Africans will produce in the years to come - truly global products that
will become household names.”
Other highlights across the week included:
· Facebook Platform Meetup, bought together entrepreneurs,
developers, and senior leaders at early-mid-stage startups in Kenya to learn
how Facebook's Platform products can help to accelerate their businesses
· Facebook Developer Circles Africa Masterclass, a three-day training course which
brought together 25 Developer Circle leaders from across Sub Saharan Africa
· Developer Circles Nairobi Meetup - celebrating passing its 1,000 member mark,
and its sixth meetup, this bought together the Nairobi Developer Circle
community in an evening of networking
· Women in Tech event - designed to engage with influential
women working in Nairobi's technology ecosystem and to share Facebook's mission
on Diversity
· Facebook Community event - brought together 12 interesting Facebook
community leaders from across Nairobi, including Benard Azegere founder
of the Kenyan Ice Hockey League
· SMB, Agency & Content Creators Workshops
- workshops which provided
advice to Kenyan entrepreneurs, agencies and SMB's on how to grow their
business using Instagram and Facebook
“Facebook emerged from a vibrant startup ecosystem which enabled
us to innovate and grow quickly,” said Emeka Afigbo, Facebook’s Head of
Platform Partnerships for Middle East & Africa. “By supporting events like
TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield Africa 2017, and bringing together an array of
Facebook events over the week, our aim is to continually nurture the truly
exciting tech ecosystem in Africa.”
No comments:
Post a Comment