AfricArena crowns top start-ups at Jo’burg summit

AfricArena, Africa’s leading start-up accelerator, has announced the winners of its Johannesburg summit. The event showcased innovative start-ups from the region, with winners in categories such as Best Deep Tech Start-up, Best Enterprise Start-up, and Most Innovative Business Model.

The winners will now move on to the final round at the Grand Summit in December 2023, where they will pitch to top venture capital investors and foreign delegations. The event will be held in Cape Town.

“The 2023 tour was kickstarted with a fantastic Johannesburg event, and each start-up did well,” said AfricArena chief executive and founder Christophe Viarnaud. “Our judging panels asked all the right questions that helped us to determine the right winners.”

Viarnaud also noted that the Johannesburg summit winners showcased the strength and diversity of entrepreneurship in the region. “We’re excited to see how the winners will do in the final round and how they will contribute to the growth and development of the African start-up ecosystem,” he said.

As the AfricArena tour continues, the next stops are the one-day New York summit in April and the Cairo summit in May where start-ups from North Africa will pitch to investors.

The winners of this year’s Johannesburg summit were:

• Best deep tech start-up: AI Diagnostics, co-founded by Braden van Breda.
• Best enterprise start-up: Thumela, co-founded by Zamokuhle Thwala.
• Best climatetech start-up: Igugu Clean Tech, founded by Zinhle Ngidi.
• Best seed start-up: BioAge, founded by Reuben Riley Rampersad.
• Best scale start-up: Michanic, founded by Lesetja Dikgale.
• Best femtech start-up:oi, founded by Phumi Körber.
• Most promising entrepreneur: Amnova Tech, founded by Denislav Marinov.
• Most attractive investor: The Catalyst Fund, represented by Investment Principal Karen Serem Waithaka.
• Most innovative business model:ai, co-founded by Sophia Campello Beckwith.

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