Three African startups — Ghana’s Oze, Kenya’s WayaWaya and SA’s Snode Technologies — have each won $50 000 in equity investments at the MEST Africa Challenge finals.
In addition, MEST Africa — which runs a pan-African entrepreneurial training programme, seed fund, and incubator — said in a statement yesterday (13 June) that the three will each also receive $25 000 in credit from Microsoft.
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Oze is a business insights engine which aims to assist business owners to make data-driven decisions that will improve their performance and access to capital.
WayaWaya provides fintech solutions that include payments, fund transfers and group savings. This, while Snode Technologies provides real-time cyber security to individuals and businesses.
The MEST Africa Challenge finals took place during the fourth MEST Africa Summit in Nairobi
The finals were held during the fourth MEST Africa Summit which kicked off on Monday (10 June) and ended on Wednesday (12 June) in Nairobi.
The event saw entrepreneurs, investors, members of the tech community and executives from across Africa and the globe meet to explore innovations and rising stars in the African tech ecosystem. MEST said the event was attended by over 300 people.
Panelists discussed topics ranging from data in the fintech space, to the latest in agritech and healthcare, to ways we can cultivate a pan-African tech community, and more.
The summit featured keynotes from speakers who included: MEST Founder Jorn Lyseggen (pictured above, far right), Microsoft’s Chris Lwanga and Lori’s Josh Sandler, Bitange Ndemo, Philip Thigo, TLcom partner Andreata Muforo, Africa’s Talking CEO Bilha Ndirangu, Carbon co-founder Ngozi Dozie, as well as representatives from Google Launchpad, Safaricom and the African Development Bank.
Commenting in the same statement, MEST Africa managing director Aaron Fu said the summit serves as a reminder of what Africa can achieve with the right blend of talent and experience.
Said Fu: “We started this with the aim of creating a space for honest discussions on how the continent can continue to move forward and markets can come together. My personal hope is that we continue to see this grow and that more collaborations across markets take shape.”
Read more: Meet the five finalists of the 2019 MEST Africa Challenge who will pitch for $50k
Featured image, left to right: Snode Technologies CEO and founder Nithen Naidoo, Oze CEO and co-founder Meghan McCormick, WayaWaya founder Teddy Ogallo and MEST Founder Jorn Lyseggen (pictured above, right)
