SMEs to square it out in Sh122m innovation contest

Africa Startup League, a community-powered company builder for startups, has announced a Sh122.84 million innovation competition that will kick off in February 2023.

The continental-wide contest is open for innovators, entrepreneurs, micro-enterprises, and early-stage start-ups to attain access to finance, as well as the much-needed expertise required to scale businesses.

The model is a unique startup studio platform that connects entrepreneurs with strategists, creatives, engineers, communities, and capital to design, build and launch exponential organizations focused on improving the lives of humans and transforming the world of tomorrow.

Judges are chosen from various fields across Africa, as well as people across the Web3Africa.news community, who will vote on the best startups, which will be evaluated based on criteria such as innovation and impact on the larger African communities.

Over the six-month competition, the Africa Startup League will enable innovators and entrepreneurs to showcase their innovative products. The selected top 100 entrepreneurs will be competing for a grand prize of Sh122.8 million ($1 million) and 99 prizes of Sh 1.2 million ($10,000).

The aim of the initiative is to create an arrangement, that allows startups to acquire the initial seed funding, mentoring, and training to scale their businesses.

 This will be alongside the key goals for Africans to see the opportunities ahead of them and to compete in a challenge that can produce solutions for pressing needs in African communities.

Web3Africa.news Co-Founder and Managing Editor Mr. Aly Ramji, who is also a partner in the Africa Startup League said, Africa's tech startups will benefit from networks that connect founders, tech hubs, universities, and government bodies to assist in the identification of business opportunities, the overcoming of skill shortages, and the attraction of the required talent.

“The Africa Startup League gives young businesspeople in Africa the opportunity to demonstrate their skills and innovations while facilitating a more effective strategy for addressing Africa's challenges and increasing the size and viability of their own companies,” he said.

He added that hope is that the ASL (Africa Startup League), will create an enabling environment for young African entrepreneurs to take part in the unique competition because the startup ecosystem in Africa is not well linked.

“Founders often do not have access to the support, guidance, openings, and information sharing that are essential to their continued existence,” said Ramji.

The Africa Startup League is a critical Humanity Node ecosystem infrastructure component and key decentralized Gross Domestic Product of Africa (DGDPA) accelerator.