Bar for tech entrepreneurs raised at the 2021 Innovation Summit

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Cape Town The main trends that emerged during the three-day Innovation Summit in Mother City were women in technology, future technologies and green innovation technology, with more entrepreneurs looking to make an impact in these sectors.

From the emancipation of women through training in virtual reality to the use of drones in the fight against rhino poaching; blockchain-enabled farm-to-fork supply chain platforms; 3D printing technology for biodegradable glasses; and a one-of-a-kind facility to support and incentivize funding for small green businesses, the Green Outcome Fund.

The bar for technological innovation was raised when investors, industry experts and entrepreneurs from all corners of the globe attended the largest tech start-up event of its kind in Africa, the first three-day hybrid event in Cape Town last week.

The summit embraced a new normal, with some delegates physically attending panel discussions, dens and demonstration days in the hotel investor garage, while others clicked in and out of virtual meeting rooms to meet potential investors, attend a seminar or listen to fire chat and master classes.

Some of the highlights of the event were Newton Partners’ Llew Claasen who moderated a panel discussing corporate venture capital, explaining the lessons learned from corporate venture capital funds; Natalie Miller, co-founder of XRGlobal, on Re-Imagining Training Through Virtual Reality; TypeDEV gave an interesting speech on How to Map Your Business Digital Journey and Make sure your website, platform or App attracts customers, keeps them and drives sales.

This year the summit attracted over 150 local and global venture capital and angel investors, as well as around 1 500 early stage entrepreneurs, serial entrepreneurs, business leaders, industry thought leaders and 48 industry expert speakers.

A hot topic, as always, was access to finance, with Cathy Smith of SAP Africas urging companies to support start-ups in her keynote address. He pointed out that the common reasons for the failure were misinterpreting market demand and running out of funds.

The SAFE Notes master class shed light on how startups with no trading history can access finance.

It was very encouraging to see that the deals increase every year with more investments coming from within the African continent.

Audrey Verhaeghe, president of SAIS, said: The deals are happening more during the early stages of the tech start-up journey, which is when it’s most needed.

Note SAFE investments are by far the most popular way our top entrepreneurs get funding. It’s a great deal for both founders and investors.

The finalists clashed at the Summits Pitching Den, while the Fem-in-Tech, Africa Cup and Inventors Garage finalists presented their proposals to investors and business organizations.

The winners were:

AFRICA CUP

1st place – LiquidGold 2nd place CIRT Q-HOP 3rd place – Brarmode Egypt

INVENTORS GARAGE

1st place Karma Science 2nd place VideoMed 3rd place Marula Charcoal

The winner of the Facebook Inventors Garage contest was the MAFATS app

FEM-IN-TECH

The first 3 start-ups Memeza Shout, Creditais and Four Minute Knowledge The recipient of the von Seidels award will be communicated at a later stage.

Winners of all competitions received a brand audit and IP registrations worth R20,000 courtesy of Von Seidels, as well as cash prizes of R120,000 to help entrepreneurs grow their businesses from the Department of Commerce, of Industry and Competition.

The top 3 African Cup start-ups each won the full set of Financial Modeling for Entrepreneurs courses, as well as the Moolman Institute’s Opportunity Assessment for Entrepreneurs and Innovators course worth R6 100 each, with each finalist receiving a 50% discount on the course.

The All Africa Cup finalists also walked away with a 10-15 hour eCommerce training from the Creativity Development Center in Lebanon.

All contest winners and finalists also received access to the Amazon Web Services starter program called Activate, with up to $ 5000 worth of Activate credits and two years, as well as commercial and technical support for up to one year worth $ 1500.

Other highlights were in the flow of the founders’ toolkit, including:

Drones. Is a Billion Dollar Industry Missing South Africa ?; Transforming Africa through Blockchain technology; The safe note A good deal for founders and investors; Downsizing to 100 million Dos and Don’ts; Set your business to scale; Aware exit strategies; 8 steps to digital marketing success; Using artificial intelligence to create inclusive solutions; Steps to take before entering the market; India FinTech – Building for a billion or more; Blockchain for business; Conscious sales for people who want to sell more without feeling awkward.

They say it takes an ecosystem to grow a start-up. In three days, the ecosystem came together, made plans, networked and supported each other. Entrepreneurs can continue the journey by becoming a member of the Innovation Summit Tech Tribe community.

To find out more about this year’s Summit and all the speakers and winners, visit https://innovationsummit.co.za/

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