Silicon Cape to offer startups a chance to ‘Pitch London’

This is very cool. South African-based entrepreneurial initiative Silicon Cape is leading a trade mission of 10 startups to London to pitch their ideas and raise capital from UK-based investors.

The trip is open to any startup looking to expand beyond South Africa’s borders, and that thinks it could benefit from UK investment.

According to the Silicon Cape, it’s organizing the mission in a bid to:

• Get local startups in front of investors who are eager to invest in the opportunity that is Africa — it’s up to you now to bring your A-game.
• To highlight the talent we have in the Western Cape to an international audience.
• To create synergy and relationships between our two countries.
• To bring up-and-coming entrepreneurs and leaders together to share knowledge, experience and encourage collaboration.

The lineup of investors is currently being confirmed, but Silicon Cape says it plans on having at least two pitch sessions per day that the tour is London. The main pool of investors will however be from the Mamba Mentors group. These include influential SA expats and as well as household tech names.

The relationship between the Silicon Cape and the UK has become a lot stronger over last year or so. In September last year for instance the Lord Mayor of London visited Cape Town, in a bid to sell his city as one working towards the best interests of tech companies and startups.

Initiatives such as the Silicon Roundabout and the Innovation Warehouse have certainly helped bolster that image.

This trip is being formalised as an “outbound trade mission” which qualifies for up to 90% reimbursement of all expenses by the Department of Trade Industry (DTI) per one member per team. Each team can apply for the grant which is subject to upfront payment and approval of itinerary by the DTI. Most costs will however have to be covered by the teams themselves.

Anyone interested in taking part in the mission can apply online before 16 September.