Entrepreneurs from across the world are competing for their share of investment opportunities and prizes valued at over R20-million at the 2019 SA Innovation Summit.
The SA Innovation Summit, taking place from today (11 September) to Friday (13 September 2019) at the Cape Town Stadium, will bring together over 3 500 delegates from 32 countries.
The summit will also offer entrepreneurs with big ideas the springboard to creating a sustainable business, through a number of competitions, including the following three: The Inventors Garage, the Andza Entrepreneur and the Africa Cup.
The Inventors Garage
The Inventors Garage is aimed at innovators and inventors with demos, working prototypes or products that are in the early commercialisation stage.
The 20 finalists will be evaluated on originality, need for their invention, growth potential, practicality and creativity. The winner is set to walk away with R10 000 in cash.
ANDZA Entrepreneur competition
The ANDZA Entrepreneur competition, which offers top entrepreneurs the chance to be considered for R10-million in investment funding and acceleration, has been launched in collaboration with the SA SME Fund.
The competition aims to find the top investment-ready businesses in the country to fast track them to success and provide a platform to help accelerate their innovative ideas to greater heights and further develop the South African economy.
First prize winners will receive R250 000 in cash and runners up R125 000, alongside the opportunity for investment funding and acceleration.
The Africa Cup
The Africa Cup, in partnership with the Unicorn Group, is open to innovative ideas, start-ups and early stage companies in tech and tech-enabled sectors.
Finalists will pitch their businesses in front of an esteemed panel of judges on the final day of the SA Innovation Summit.
The Africa Cup will be the grand finale on the SA Innovation Summit and will see the winners taking home a R5-million investment offer and three weeks acceleration in Silicon Valley, Lagos or Budapest.
The runner up will win a R2,5-million investment offer and two weeks acceleration in either of the three locations, while third place will be awarded a R1-million investment offer and one-week acceleration in South Africa.
But the Summit offers more than just prizes for competition entrants. Last year, the Summit facilitated more than R1bn in deals between investors and start-ups representing the future of innovation. And over 80% of these start-ups are based from Africa, providing the opportunity to stimulate local economies.
“The SA Innovation Summit is an opportunity to compete for investment, gain market and media exposure, and network with potential enablers and sponsors. It is a chance to scale up the inspired, ground-breaking solutions from Africa into the world,” says Dr Audrey Verhaeghe, chairperson of the SA Innovation Summit.