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iHub By Editor / September 27, 2012

Top 40 startups selected for DEMO Africa 2012

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Fourteen Kenyan start-ups have been selected to launch at the first DEMO Africa conference,  to be held in October 2012.

DEMO Africa is the launchpad for emerging technology and trends in Africa and is scheduled to take place in Nairobi, Kenya from 24-26 October 2012. DEMO Africa will be the latest addition to the DEMO family of conferences and is expected be an iconic event for the continent’s most innovative entrepreneurs.

From the VC4Africa Blog :

After more than four months of work, we are pleased to announce the 40 entrepreneurs selected to launch at the first ever DEMO Africa conference.

Here is an overview of the selected ventures. Click on the tiles to find out more.

	Balefyre is the sole supplier of it’s patented USSDx – USSD over IP server and emDial application.	Earl Joseph	South Africa
	Crowdpesa allows merchants to manage customer notifications and rewards on an intuitive dashboard.	Christian KAKOBA	Kenya
	dash2do is an online service for errand runners, private drivers, cash delivery, travel bookings and more.	Samuel Wanjohi	Kenya
	djoss.tv is a social TV platform that lets TV viewers everywhere discuss around their favorite TV shows, in real-time.	Ndjientcheu Ngandjui Patrick	Cameroon
	eLimu is an Android application for children in the Kenyan Primary School education system.	Nivi Mukherjee	Kenya
	Eskimi is a mobile social network to meet new people in Africa.	Vytautas Paukštys	Nigeria
	Evly is a Software-as-a-Service that can be used by organisations to “constructively engage” their stakeholders.	Eric Edelstein	South Africa
	ExpenZa takes the hassle out of expense tracking by automating as much of the process as possible.	Wim Morris	South Africa
	Firestring will find the right information for you when you need it.	Alison Jacobson	South Africa
	Framework One is a Cloud-Based bespoke development and business process automation using CloudCore.	Stephan Pienaar	South Africa
	Gigham makes it easy to discover, promote & monetize events.	George Gally	South Africa
	Hewani™ Retail enables consumers to shop for goods and services.	Thuo Herbert	Kenya
	iPay is an innovative payments processing solution and payment gateway for Africa.	Philip Nyamwaya	Kenya
	Kivuko is an online shopping gateway, enabling vendors to sell and deliver products directly to customers.	Amiri Mziray	Tanzania
	KKYB is an online platform that crowdsources writing and design services online.	Kekeli Buckner	Ghana
	Kuza is a mobile, location-based business platform for feature phones.	Pieter Nel	South Africa
	Kuzima allows you as a consumer to shame and praise companies that provide you with services.	Michael Ocansey	Ghana
	Kytabu is a texbook subscription application on a low cost tablet.	Tonee Ndungu	Kenya
	Lipisha enables small business owners to automatically process non cash payments and micropayments.	Martin Kasomo	Kenya
	Maliyo Games makes interactive multimedia content, published for web and mobile distribution.	Hugo Obi	Nigeria
	Meka is the industry innovator in comparison shopping, price and product reference.	Mugume Collins	Uganda
	m-KAZI is a mass market job search application accessed by mobile phone and online.	Nancy Wang	Kenya
	Mlouma is a web and mobile service that allows farmers and agribusiness to make decisions.	Aboubacar Sidy Sonko	Senegal
	Mobiflock, we want children to have all the benefits of a mobile phone, while still staying safe.	Vanessa Clark	South Africa
	mPawa is a mobile job matching application developed for the blue collar recruitment sector of Africa.	Maxwell Donkor	Ghana
	MPAYER is a mobile and web application that enables businesses to manage income and expenses.	Stella Njoki	Kenya
	MPrep helps kids learn, review, compete and collaborate through accessible mobile applications.	Kosgei Isaac	Kenya
	MTI offers the newest level in IT Support. With this App, you can get support no matter where you are in the world.	Sean Venter	South Africa
	mTRACKER is a menu-driven mobile application that runs on Series40 and Android platforms.	Mwema Jacob	Kenya
	mVerified is a verification tool that can be accessed online or via mobile.	Patrick Innovator	Kenya
	MyOrder is the easy way to order from shops around you for delivery or pick-up.	Hilda Moraa	Kenya
	OzinboPay is a mobile payment gateway that enables merchants within West Africa.	Sam Paapa Opoku	Ghana
	People Input is an African APPs store targeting general public and businesses.	Serigne Barro	Senegal
	Prowork is a project management and team collaboration app.	Francis Onwumere	Nigeria
	Qabila is a media content creator that capitalizes on crowdsourcing and digital media.	Perihan Abou-Zeid	Egypt
	Rasello helps businesses manage better consumer communication via SMS.	Natalino Mwenda	Tanzania
	SasaAfrica, an e-commerce platform that connects craftswomen in developing countries.	Ella Peinovich	Kenya
	SkillPod Media is a South African based game solutions provider.	Mark van Diggelen	South Africa
	TaxTim is an online virtual tax assistant who asks you simple questions in plain language.	Evan Robinson	South Africa
	Virtual Bank is a payment service for those without credit cards, bank accounts and those who want a cheap alternative.	Tawanda Kembo	Zimbabwe

At DEMO Africa, a hand-selected group of new products will make their public debut to global press, investors, corporate acquirers, strategic partners and buyers. Adobe, Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Motorola, Symantec, Yahoo! and many others have acquired promising DEMO companies that have become household names today. DEMO Africa is a premier platform for the best and brightest companies throughout the continent seeking to launch their products in front of a global audience.

The 40 finalists have gone through three rigorous screening processes with the final vetting and adjudication done by a pan-African panel of judges comprised of entrepreneurs, VCs and Academia. The Judges included Martin Butler, Senior Lecturer, University of Stellenbosch, Athony Stonefield, Head of Ecosystem, Nokia, Toby Sharpshak, Editor, Stuff South Africa, Paul Nguru, CEO, PN Consultancy, Stephen Gugu, Director, Viktoria  Solutions,  Erik Hersman, Founder, Ushahidi/iHub, Eric Osaikwan, CEO, Research Africa, Tomi Davis, CEO, Technovision and  Brian Longwe, DEMO Africa.

A total of 500 applications were processed in lead to this event. These were then short listed to 150 ventures before a selection of the final 40 was made. The ventures cover five categories including Mobile Technology, Social Media, Consumer Products, Cloud Services and Enterprise Technologies. South Africa and Kenya take a big chunk of the final 40 with Ghana and Nigeria coming in a close second. Other countries represented included Cameroon, Senegal, Egypt, Tanzania and Zimbabwe.

The team at DEMO Africa, and everyone part of the VC4Africa community, would like to congratulate the selected entrepreneurs for their achievement. We count on you to make waves in Nairobi!

Cross- posted from : VC4Africa Blog

Author : Editor

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