Road Trip to Africa
Following the launch event in Brussels on 6 November, a road trip to South Africa will be the next step to bring Africa and Europe closer. The road trip will take place in both South Africa, 20-22 November, and Nigeria, 23-25 November, and it will ultimately culminate in Abidjan, Ivory Coast for the 5th EU-Africa Summit.
You can read about the trip in detail here below:
- In South Africa, in addition to the Brenthurst Foundation, we are working with Injini, an educational technology accelerator that will be our primary host and that belongs to a larger initiative called the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi). We are also working with Wesgro, the official trade, tourism and investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape, and are working directly with Tim Harris, CEO of Wesgro and former South African Shadow Minister of Finance, to ensure the event’s success. Finally, Google has opened up its network of African start-up partners to us to access the continent’s best start-ups.
The agenda for the 3 days in Cape Town will be as follows:
- Monday, 20 November: Arrive in Cape Town and set up event
- Tuesday, 21 November: Boot Camp for 15 African start-ups. We are asking for start-ups that have either at least $100,000 in annual recurring revenue or at least $100,000 in investment, as a filter to ensure that we are attracting companies with at least a minimum viable product. The Boot Camp will be hosted at Injini.
- Wednesday, 22 November: An event open to the entire start-up ecosystem, both in person and virtually. The event will be hosted at Workshop 17, a co-working space on the waterfront with views of Table Mountain. A video of the space is available here. The day will consist of 4 blocks and 1 inspirational keynote. Each block will give 15 minutes to an African entrepreneur, 15 minutes to a European entrepreneur, 15 minutes to a moderated panel with both entrepreneurs to highlight commonalities and differences, and then 15 minutes of Q&A. The 4 blocks will be:
- How to raise capital in Europe and Africa;
- What investors look for in Europe and Africa;
- How to work with corporates in Europe and Africa; and
- How to build a brand and a network in Europe and Africa.
The inspirational keynote will be on “How to create an African Bill Gates” and will be given by a top digital entrepreneur in Southern Africa.
Later that evening, we will host the gala finals to select the best start-up from among the 15 semi-finalists. We are speaking with the Spanish and Dutch Embassies to host the event at their Cape Town consulates. The German Embassy that are keen to support the event, but are remodelling their consulate in Cape Town. We will invite relevant dignitaries from the various European embassies to the gala event.
The winner of the start-up competition will get various prizes, including €76,000 in investment from Wayra and the chance to pitch at St James Palace before HRH, The Duke of York and possibly the Queen of England. Other partners, including Amazon, Google and Facebook, will provide prizes such as €1000 of free Facebook marketing, etc. If the winning start-up is a preventative health start-up, MSD, the world’s 4th largest pharmaceutical company, may match Wayra’s investment with a €76,000 grant.
- In Nigeria, our main partner is former President OlesegunObasanjo via his presidential library. In addition to him, we are working with grassroots partners, including our venture partner, EchoVC, a pan-African fund split between Silicon Valley and African markets. They back founders across Africa from seed funding to series A. Eghosa Omoigui, the Managing Partner, is the lead; he has years of experience backing the world’s best start-ups, which he previously did as Director at Intel Capital, the world’s largest corporate VC. Google Nigeria is also supporting.
The agenda for the 3 days in Nigeria will be as follows:
- Thursday, 23 November: Arrive in Lagos and set up event
- Friday, 24 November: Boot Camp for 15 African start-ups. As above, we are asking for start-ups that have either at least $100,000 in annual recurring revenue or at least $100,000 in investment. The Boot Camp will be hosted at Leadspace, a local co-working space with 7 locations in Nigeria that has been highlighted on CNN Africa.
- Saturday, 25 November: An event open to the entire start-up ecosystem, both in person and virtually, will also be hosted at Leadspace. The format will be similar to the Cape Town event: 4 blocks and 1 inspirational keynote. The 4 blocks will again be:
- How to raise capital in Europe and Africa;
- What investors look for in Europe and Africa;
- How to work with corporates in Europe and Africa; and
- How to build a brand and a network in Europe and Africa.
The inspirational keynote will be on “How to create an African Bill Gates” and will be given by a top digital entrepreneur in Western Africa.
Later that evening, we will host the finals to select the best start-up from among the 15 semifinalists at the Olesegun Obasanjo Presidential Library. President Obasanjo will host the event, and relevant foreign dignitaries will be invited.
As with the Cape Town event, the winner of the start-up competition will get various prizes, including €76,000 in investment from Wayra and the chance to pitch at St James Palace before HRH, The Duke of York and possibly the Queen of England. Other partners, including Amazon, Google and Facebook, will provide prizes such as €1000 of free Facebook marketing, etc. If the winning start-up is a preventative health start-up, MSD, the world’s 4th largest pharmaceutical company, may match Wayra’s investment with a €76,000 grant.
Startup Europe Comes to Africa (SEC2A) Launch Event 6th November 2017, Brussels
Startup Europe Comes to Africa (“SEC2A”) Launch Event
6thNovember 2017, Brussels
WHY?
Africa and Europe are bound together by history and separated by fewer than 14 kilometres. At the first EU-Africa Summit in Cairo in 2000, leaders from both continents agreed to strengthen their partnerships. The public image of Africa, however, tends to highlight Africa’s problems such as civil wars, famine and fleeing migrants, and not its opportunities, such as its ambitious African entrepreneurs.
Startup Europe Comes to Africa aims to change this by introducing grass-roots entrepreneurial efforts and success stories to an international audience. In particular, we aim to add another dimension to the images of Africa by bringing together prestigious African heads of states, entrepreneurs and business leaders on the one hand and European politicians, entrepreneurs and celebrities on the other hand.
Our aim is to connect Africa and Europe through digital trade and not aid. This campaign is just the first step to building a stable, long-term start-up bridge between the two continents.
Would you like to attend the launch event in Brussels? Then click here.
WHO?
Our institutional partners span European and African political leaders, royalty, some of the largest multinational corporates in the world, leading entrepreneurial networks, pan-African venture capital networks, and celebrities. They include:
- The European Commission (EC) is the principal European sponsor, as part of the ‘Digital for Development’ agenda and Startup Europe;
- President OlusegunObasanjo is the former President of Nigeria, a position he held from 1999 to 2007, and a former Chair of the African Union. He is our primary African sponsor and will host the event in Nigeria in his OlusegunObasanjo Presidential Library;
- The Brenthurst Foundation is an initiative of South Africa’s Oppenheimer (De Beer) family. They are our primary host in South Africa, though, as described in more detail below, we are also working with the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative and Wesgro (the official tourism, trade and investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape);
- HRH, the Duke of York’s initiative, Pitch@Palace,will offer winners the opportunity to pitch at Pitch@Palace Global;
- We are collaborating with the Heart, a European centre for start-up and corporate collaboration. Based in Poland, they have a network of executives and founders that spans over 25 countries;
- In South Africa, in addition to the Brenthurst Foundation, we are working with Injini, an educational technology accelerator that will be our primary host and that belongs to a larger initiative called the Cape Innovation and Technology Initiative (CiTi). We are also working with Wesgro, the official trade, tourism and investment promotion agency for Cape Town and the Western Cape, and are working directly with Tim Harris, CEO of Wesgro and former South African Shadow Minister of Finance, to ensure the event’s success. Finally, Google has opened up its network of African start-up partners to us to access the continent’s best start-ups.
To see the agenda for the Road Trip you can click here.
WHEN?
The campaign will begin with a launch event in Brussels at the European Commissionon 6 November. As described above, it will be followed by a road trip to South Africa (from 20-22 November) and Nigeria(from 23-25 November) that will ultimately culminate in Abidjan, Ivory Coast for the 5th EU-Africa Summit.
During the week of 6 November, we will host the official EU launch of Startup Europe Comes to Africa.This will be a high-profile event of approximately 100 VIPs, including relevant journalists. We will work with organisations such as Afrobytes, VC4Africa, Wayra, Orange, Africa House, The Heart and Google for Entrepreneurs to get the word out among African and European entrepreneurs to ensure an audience of grassroots organisers as well as corporates, investors and tech journalists.
WHAT DOES GOOD LOOK LIKE?
- Positive and significant PR and social media presence across European and African publications;
- Senior European Commission delegates, such as VP Ansip, leaving with excitement and positivity about the SEC2A initiative and Start-up Europe more generally;
- ‘Buzz’ amongst European and African entrepreneurial communities; and
- The sense that this event was a meaningful first stepto forging long-term substantive links between Africa and Europe’s entrepreneurial ecosystems.
INVITEES
- Senior EC representatives, including Vice President Ansip;
- Representatives from national governments and embassies;
- European political and business leaders with links to Africa;
- A selection of the successful European entrepreneurs who have been selected to attend Abidjan;
- Representatives from EU corporate sponsors, including Telefónicaand Orange;
- African and EU Journalists; and
- Noteworthy members of the EU and African start-up ecosystems.
AGENDA
11:00 Guests arrive. Welcome reception and networking over coffee.
11:30 Introduction by VP Ansip
11:45 Introduction by President Obasanjo
12:00 Introduction to Startup Europe by Isidro Laso
12:45 Introduction to SEC2A by Gary Stewart and Emma Fau
13:30 Lunch and Networking
14:30 Africa – Believe the Hype: Panel discussion of African and EU corporates, investors and start-ups
15:15 Start-up Pitches (5 3-minute pitches from selection of EU start-ups chosen to go to Abidjan)
16:00 Closing
If you want to attend the event and need to get a ticket, then click here.
Over 30SEC2U events across Europe from 23 to 26 October
SEC2U is an initiative endorsed by the European Commission (Startup Europe) to create a strong culture of entrepreneurship and innovation within universities across Europe. During the week of 23rd to the 29th of October 2017, over 30 free-to-attend events will bring together universities and the startup ecosystem toform valuable connections andkick-start dialogue between universities and industry. Students and young entrepreneurs will also be able to familiarize themselves with the support available to develop their entrepreneurship skills and grow their businesses.
Universities from 22 countries take part in SEC2U including names like Trinity College Dublin, Polytechnic of Milan and University of Cambridge. Thanks to the coordination from the University of Salamanca and the support of a student/startup project team from Ravensbourne, you can view all participating universities on the SEC2U website: http://startupeuropeuniversities.eu/sec2u-startup-europe-comes-to-the-universities/
With approximately 3000 peopleexpected in attendance, this is a time to showcase the work of universities in the entrepreneurship area, build bridges between university communities and startup ecosystems and facilitate connections!
Take the right step towards your future and don´t miss out on this opportunity. Find out more about SEC2U and the free events near you: http://startupeuropeuniversities.eu/sec2u-events-2017/
See you there!
About Startup Europe Comes to the Universities (SEC2U)
Startup Europe Comes to the Universities (SEC2U) is a Europe wide initiative to engage universities (from the Startup Europe University Network and beyond) and enable them to spread an entrepreneurial culture. SEC2U will hold events across Europe during the week of 23rd to 29th of October 2017.
The main objective of the SEC2U events is to showcase the commitment of European universities for entrepreneurship and toconnect universities to the wider startup ecosystem.
