#DEMOAfrica: Alumni Raise over $11m Seedfund in 4 Years

In just four shirt years, Demo Africa alumni have raised over $11million in seed funding, business value and acquisition deals.

Harry Hare, executive director, Demo Africa, disclosed this at this year’s Demo Africa held in Lagos, adding that since the journey started in 2012, the event has witnessed significant strides in the quality of technology startups emerging across the Continent.

Hare said that a growing number of startup founders are building world-class products, introducing important innovations, and tapping new market opportunities.

Hare said, “In just four shirt years, our alumni have raised over $11million in seed funding, business value and acquisition deals.

“Examples from last year’s cohort include Valuraha, Trafficbytes, Space-pointe, Irofit, Cube and the Pearl Dream company. All have made significant progress and broke headlines and their accomplishments since their public launch on the DEMO Africa stage.

He added that older alumni continue to succeed as well. “For example Weza Tele, a DEMO Africa 2012 Alumni, that was acquired by AFD for $1.7million in May 2015. This exit has been listed among the most successful in the African technology scene and hints to the many success stories now in the making. Indeed, we are witnessing the birth of many new products and services that are serving both local and global markets”.

“The success of these individuals,” Hare said, “and their endurance and drive to succeed, are an inspiration for all of us to push forward. We are seeing more investor interest than ever before, and from both local and international investors. We are seeing a growing amount of support from corporate sponsors and increased engagement from African governments. The continued commitment of these stakeholders is the cornerstone to the growth of our innovation and entrepreneurship driven activities across the continent”.

Also speaking, Peter Jack, director-general, National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) said that Agency is delighted by the resilience of African technology entrepreneurs (techpreneurs) to support the cause to have Africa generated solutions.

Jack applauded the entrepreneurs saying, “our pride is particularly in the large numbers of entrepreneurs that continue to support the cause to have Africa generated solutions.

The NITDA chief also urged DEMO Africa on value creation as 30 startups were given opportunity to launch their businesses in front of an audience of investors.

Nigeria and Kenya are best represented with eight startups each. South Africa has three representatives, while Ghana, Egypt, Cameroon and Zimbabwe each have two. Uganda, Tanzania and Ivory Coast are represented by one startup each.

There was a record number of applications for this year’s event, which is sponsored by Massachusetts Institute of Technology’s (MIT) Legatum Centre for Development and Entrepreneurship and Microsoft.

Jack congratulated the startups and welcomed them to Nigeria for the event.

“We are excited at the opportunities that technology has presented to our African youths in creating jobs and wealth. This is a great moment in the history of Africa, steadily rising to establish its digital footprint in the world,” he said.