Looking to get into the South African startup scene or scratch up on some of your skills? Well, you’ve come to the right place. There are loads of competitions, networking sessions and workshops happening around South Africa and the rest of the continent (namely Kenya, Nigeria and Ghana) that we’ve rounded up to make your life a bit easier.
This article is part of a weekly series that highlights all the top startup competitions, networking sessions, workshops and conferences around South Africa, and the greater region. If you have any event recommendations for us to add to the list, or next week’s, please let us know in the comments below or send us an email.
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Not all of the events are free and some will require booking in advance. Please click on the event names to find out more information.
Cape Town
Inaugural SYO Startup MasterMind Session @ Greenpoint Coworking
This is a low-pressure environment. After a brief introductory talk, we’ll open the floor to you to pitch your current challenges to the audience. Tell us what you’re banging your head against, and get fresh perspectives and advice.
Date: 28 February, 6:00pm
Location: 74 Prestwich Street, Green Point
For people working in startups, lean (startup) coffee is a weekly 1-hour coffee that runs a mash-up of leancoffee.org with theleanstartup.com. Unlike other startup meetups, lean (startup) coffee is agendaless, speakerless and talks about what you care about. We each propose topics, vote on them and talk about the most popular ones for a few minutes. Come visit to see how it works.
Date: 1 March, 8:30am to 9:30am
Location: TRUTH. coffeecult, 1 Somerset Road, Green Point
FREE #CapeMarketing Workshops for Small Businesses in Woodstock
Are you a start-up, entrepreneur or small business owner? Perhaps you just have an inkling of an idea and need some advice or inspiration. We offer a relaxed and safe space for you to discuss any issues, ideas or success stories. If you have any marketing problems you need help with, you can bring them all to the table and tap into the wealth of experience and knowledge from the group.
Date: 1 March, 1:00pm to 2:00pm
Location: The Cape Town Garage, The Woodstock Exchange, Block A / 4th Floor, 66 Albert Road, Woodstock
FREE #CapeMarketing Workshops for Small Businesses in Diep River
Are you a start-up, entrepreneur or small business owner? Perhaps you just have an inkling of an idea and need some advice or inspiration. We offer a relaxed and safe space for you to discuss any issues, ideas or success stories. If you have any marketing problems you need help with, you can bring them all to the table and tap into the wealth of experience and knowledge from the group.
Date: 2 March, 9:00am
Location: N/A
Strategy 1: Value Proposition Design
Workshop for entrepreneurs and business owners wishing to create the products and services their customers want.
Date: 2 March, 8:30am to 12:30pm
Location: N/A
Akro/The Kairos Society: a chat with Manuel Koser
Akro, in association with The Kairos Society, is excited to have Manuel Koser demystifying co-founding and partners. Manuel Koser speaks with the weight of authority, himself the passionate co-founder of numerous businesses including Jumia, Zando, and Silvertree Capital and supporter of entrepreneurs. RSVP to janine@akro.co.za
Date: 2 March, 6:30pm to 8:30pm
Location: 17 Shelley Road, Salt River
Johannesburg
The Blockchain Africa Conference 2017 will bring together a diverse range of experts who will discuss all the opportunities, challenges and exciting possibilities in innovation and disruption that can be leveraged in Africa using this technology.
Date: 1 – 3 March, all day
Location: N/A
Focusing on building long-term business relationships through word of mouth referrals. We are looking for professionals in selected industries to join us and were we tap into one another’s networks to grow each of our businesses. Please ensure you inform us of your profession before joining for the meeting. Therefore, please contact any of your hosts through Meetup and we will immediately respond.
Date: 1 March, 7:00am to 8:30am
Location: The Street Cafe (Rosebank Union Church), 40 St Andrews Road
The Purpose of this Business Networking meeting is to offer you the business owner a networking platform to promote your business/service. To meet new like-minded business owners.
Date: 1 March, 8:30am
Location: Piza e Vino Eagles Landing, Corner of Scott and Christiaan de Wet Rd, Randpark Ridge,
Free Entrepreneur SOCIAL & Networking Meetup
The first SOCIAL & Networking Meetup of 2017 is happening at Picolino’s in Fourways! It’s an opportunity to meet and learn about each other’s business interests. It’s fairly informal with the emphasis on SOCIAL with plenty of networking opportunities.
Date: 1 March, 7:00pm to 9:00pm
Location: Picolinos, 42 Witkoppen Road, Rustic Timber Centre Fourways
Free Programming Workshop For Women Build Your First Website At Django Girls Johannesburg 2017!
If you are a woman and want to learn how to make websites, we have good news for you: we are holding a one-day workshop for beginners! We believe the IT industry will greatly benefit from bringing more women into technology. We want to give you an opportunity to learn how to program and become one of us – women programmers!
Date: 3 March, 6:00pm
Location: JoziHub, 44 Stanley Ave, Milpark
The Art of Connection: How to build relationships that support business growth
The Art of Connection: How to build relationships that support business growth, innovation and creativity. The workshop will help entrepreneurs to create more effective relationships with their partners and co-founders.
Date: 3 March, 9:00am
Location: Focus Rooms, The Core, First Floor South, Corner Kikuyu and Leeuwkop Streets, Sunninghill
Kenya
Startup Grind Nairobi: Founder Fireside Chat with Suzie Wokabi
Join Startup Grind at Mettā Nairobi for their second fireside chat this year hosting the Chief Creative Officer and Brand Ambassador of SuzieBeauty at The Flame Tree Group, Suzie Wokabi. She began creating her make-up and beauty brand in early 2009 and officially launched it in December 2011. The hallmark of SuzieBeauty products is affordability, great quality and are tailor-made for the unique needs of women living in the African climate.
Date: 27 February, 6:00pm to 8:30pm
Location: Mettā Nairobi, 14 Riverside Drive, Belgravia Building, Nairobi
From IDEA TO BUSINESS Masterclass
A hands-on startup/entrepreneurship masterclass focussing on enabling entrepreneurs (individual and teams) build viable businesses from scratch. The masterclass is for anyone with any background excited about entrepreneurship and problem solving. You need not to have an idea or team to be part of the IDEA TO BUSINESS masterclass.
Date: 1 March, 5:30pm
Location: East Africa School Of Management EASM COLLEGE, Biashara Street, 4th Floor Ansh Plaza, Next To Bazaar, Biashara Street, Nairobi
SWIFT FinTech Innovation Meet & Mingle
The roadshow will act as a feeder event for the SWIFT Innotribe Startup Challenge, which is the largest Emerging Markets FinTech innovation platform. This year the Startup Challenge will be run in both Africa and Russia. The African event will feature 10 companies and be held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in partnership with SWIFT’s African Regional Conference. At the end of the showcase, we will announce the 3 finalists invited to Sibos in Toronto in October.
Date: 2 March, 6:00pm to 8:00pm
Location: Mettā Nairobi, 14 Riverside Drive, Belgravia Building, Nairobi
SWIFT FinTech Innovation Africa Workshop
The roadshow will act as a feeder event for the SWIFT Innotribe Startup Challenge, which is the largest Emerging Markets FinTech innovation platform. This year the Startup Challenge will be run in both Africa and Russia. The African event will feature 10 companies and be held in Abidjan, Ivory Coast, in partnership with SWIFT’s African Regional Conference. At the end of the showcase, we will announce the 3 finalists invited to Sibos in Toronto in October.
Date: 2 March, 2:00pm to 4:00pm
Location: Mettā Nairobi, 14 Riverside Drive, Belgravia Building, Nairobi
Nigeria
Find Your POV: Pitch of Velocity
Cranium One will host a pitch dating and networking event which brings together professionals and innovation enthusiasts to pitch ideas on the Social Media Week 2017 theme – The New Language of Technology: The Future of Communication in Africa – in a speed-dating type setting. We hope that at the end of event, guests can takeaway pointers on ways to leverage social media as the new language of technology as well as improve the future of communication both in Nigeria and in Africa.
Date: 3 March, 5:00pm to 8:00pm
Location: N/A
Have a startup event that you’d like featured on next week’s event roundup? Send us an email.
Featured image: Steven Zwerink via Flickr (CC 2.0, resized)
