The Africa Tech Summit Nairobi is the landmark event in the African tech ecosystem. This summit, now in its sixth edition, takes place at the Sarit Expo Centre in Nairobi, Kenya. It's expected a convergence point for over 1,000 industry leaders, investors, and startups from both Africa and the international community. The event involves 700 companies and 150 speakers.
One of the most anticipated features of the summit is the investment showcase. This segment will highlight 10 dynamic startups selected from over 250 entries across Africa. These startups, chosen for their innovation and potential, span various sectors includingclimate-tech. They're seeking funding in the range of US$500,000 to US$15 million.
- Among these startups, four hail from Kenya, showcasing the country's burgeoning tech talent. These include Node Bio, focused on climate-resilient crop treatments; Peercarbon, a climate fintech startup; and URBANET, which promotes international development dialogue.
- Nigerian startups are also prominently featured, with ventures like Bingtellar, Dukka, Feegor, and Regxta, each bringing unique solutions to the financial and e-commerce sectors.
Peercarbon: Our Climate Fintech platform leverages granular emissions data and cutting-edge sustainable finance technology to empower SMEs in Africa. We connect 'green demand' with 'green supply,' bringing together green technologies, responsible lenders, and integrated carbon accounting tools. By placing carbon accounting software at the core of our solution, we ensure that SMEs have the necessary tools to measure, mitigate, and manage their carbon footprint in their Net-Zero Transitions. Our vision is to create the ecosystem needed to embed sustainability into business finance. On our marketplace of finance providers, green technology providers and greening SMEs who are committed to sustainability will find the partners they need to help them on their sustainability journey.
- The Africa Money & DeFi Summit connects African fintech leaders, global platforms and thought leaders on the new opportunities in Decentralized Finance (DeFi). An array of keynotes, panels and breakout sessions will deliver key insights and offer opportunities to connect, network and do business across the Africa fintech and DeFi landscapes.
- Africa Climate Tech & Investment Summit showcases insights from leading change makers at the nexus of climate, tech and investment in Africa. The Summit will also launch of The Africa Climate, Tech & Sustainability Report (pre-register), kindly supported by Mercy Corps Ventures and Peercarbon.
- Africa Start-Up Summit brings together stakeholders in the tech space across Africa to explore opportunities and challenges within the ecosystem, while showcasing investment opportunities. The focus of the track will be on encouraging collaboration, with the aim of furthering the development of Africa’s vibrant entrepreneurship and innovation ecosystem while connecting investors, corporates and start-ups.
- The Africa Tech Summit Podcast continues the conversation with industry leaders, investors and corporates providing you with insights from across the African tech scene.
14/02 Venture Capital: Fintech Funding, Valuations & The New Reality
- Adesoji Solanke, Head of Fintech IB Origination at Absa
- Ivy Macharia, Senior Investment Associate at Enza Capital
- Edmund Higenbottam, Managing Director at Verdant Capital
- Andreata Muforo, Partner at TLCom Capital
- Ngetha Waithaka, General Partner at Norrsken22
- moderated by Rolake Rosiji, Africa Regional Director at Seedstars.
14/02 Onboarding Millions of Users Across Africa to Web3
- Isha Varshney, Head of Strategy and Innovation - Celo Foundation
- Tosin Onikosi, Web 3 Product Marketing Lead - Opera
- Markus Franke, Co-Founder and CEO - Mento Labs
- moderated by Felix Macharia, CEO - Kotani Pay
14/02 Africa's Rising Agritech Start-Ups (Part 1)
Session supported by GIZ and highlighting the cohort from the 2023 Scaling digital Agriculture Innovations through Start-ups (SAIS) Program. Africa's Rising AgriTech Start Ups - Feeding the Continent through Venture Innovation:
- Chair Neanda Salvaterra Senior Reporter @ Agenda
- Seabex,
- ReNile
- Dropp
- Samalife,
- Be Wireless Solution,
- AgroInnova,
- Hello Tractor
- Koolboks
15/02 Africa's Rising Agritech Start-Ups (Part 2)
Session supported by GIZ and highlighting the cohort from the 2023 Scaling digital Agriculture Innovations through Start-ups (SAIS) Program. Africa's Rising AgriTech Start Ups - Feeding the Continent through Venture Innovation
- Chair Neanda Salvaterra Senior Reporter @ Agenda
- agriBORA
- Kokari Coconuts & Company
- Poslik, Duhqa,
- AgNexus
- Koolboks
- EzyAgric
14/02 She Wins Africa: Unlocking the Potential of Women Entrepreneurs
Session supported by IFC - International Finance Corporation on Unlocking the Potential of Women Entrepreneurs.
- Moderated by Elom Lassey Africa Venture Capital at IFC - International Finance Corporation
- Katie Hill, Associate Director and Partner at Boston Consulting Group
- Lorna Rutto, Founder at Ecopost
- Lewam Kefela, Principal at Partech Africa
- Micheline Ntiru, Director of Post-Investment Support at Delta40
14/02 Powering A Sustainable Future
- Erik Nygard, Founder at Kofa Carol Koech, Country President at Schneider Electric East Africa
- Josh Whale, Founder & CEO at Ampersand
- Abel Boreto, Investment Director at Novastar Ventures
- Victoria Amunga, Journalist at Voice of America
14/02 Expanding your Business Beyond Africa and the Role of Payments
- Victor Alade, Co-Founder & CEO at Raenest
- Christian Chami, Sales Development & Partner Success at Smile Identity
- Nubi Kay, Startup Programs Lead at Paystack
- Precious Oyelade, Head of Community, Joyned Capital
- moderated by Seun Alley, CEO at Fez Delivery
14/02 MASTERCLASS: Mastering Climate Tech Innovation in Africa
- Chair May Yego Investment Manager @ FSDAi - In her role at FSD Africa, she is involved in the execution of the investment process, responsible for investee monitoring and reporting, as well as engaging with the investee technical assistance program execution and monitoring.
- Karen Waithaka Chief Investment Officer @ Catalyst Fund
- Maelis Carraro Managing Partner @ Catalyst Fund
- Eva Stolz Principal @ Persistent
14/02 MASTERCLASS: Data’s Essential Role In Investing In A Climate Resilient Future
- moderated by Hetal Patel - Director - Investments from Mercy Corps Ventures
- Rachel E. Macauley,
- Muthoni Wachira, CFA,
- Oliver Game
- Scott Onder
Mercy Corps Ventures & Peercarbon. (2024) The Africa Climate, Tech & Sustainability Report
14/02 MASTERCLASS: Approaches to Fundraising for African Startups from an Investor's Viewpoint
- Alisha Golden, Investment Manager Techstars. Alisha Golden is an Investment Manager at Techstars, The world's most active pre-seed investor. Before joining Techstars, Alisha led a global consultancy active across four continents that hailed clients such as Pivotal Ventures, The United Nations Foundation, NASA, Second Muse Capital, and more. Alisha is also the founder of Plan A, a pre-accelerator for women-led start-ups in Sub-Saharan Africa with a core thesis of holistic business development through aligning mental, spiritual, and financial health and well-being.
14/02 Insurance tech - What's Trending?
- Jihan Abass Founder & CEO @ Lami
- Gbenro Dara CEO & Co-Founder @ Octamile
- Elias Omondi Principal, Innovation for Resilience @ FSD Africa
- Moderator Jessica Hope Founder & CEO @ Wimbart
14/02 Catalyzing Inclusive Green Transition in Africa
- Raymond Mayio Co-founder and CEO @ PeerCarbon
14/02 Biological crop treatments to make African agriculture more resilient, productive, and sustainable.
- John Woolsey CEO @ Node Bio
15/02 Corporate Governance & Stakeholder Management in Venture Backed Startups
- Olivia Gao, Senior Associate at Verod-Kepple Africa Ventures
- Lizzie Amissah, Managing Partner at TBrA X Ventures
- Mathias Leopoldie, Co-Founder at Julaya
- David Nandwa, Founder at HoneyCoin
- moderated by Chidinma Okoli, Venture Partner at Sahara Impact Ventures.
15/02 MASTERCLASS: Cross-ecosystem Learnings: Latin America vs. Africa
- Yvonne Okafor Co-Founder @ A&A Collective
- Hetal Patel Director of Investments @ Mercy Corps Ventures
- Kaivan Sattar CEO @ Asaak
- Jasiel Odoom Investment Officer @ Accion Venture Labs
15/02 Scaling Across Financial Borders
- Unini Campbell, Chief Commercial Officer at BudPay
- Kevin Kigima-Ng’ang’a, Country Lead at Verto
- Zawadi Bushoki, Head of Customer Service at Yogupay
- Uzoamaka Okoro Head of Operations at Fincra
- moderated by Olugbeminiyi Idowu Founder & Managing Director at Talking Drum Communications
Related:
Where agtech has come from, the lessons learned over the last 10 years, what challenges are still being faced and what the future holds for AgTech on the continent.
- Hafsah Jumare - CEO & Co-Founder from CoAmana
- Rose Goslinga - Co-Founder and President from Pula
- Seema Gohil - Director from Digifarm
- Dave Okech - Founder & CEO from AquaRech Ltd
- moderated by Hetal Patel - Director - Investments from Mercy Corps Ventures
Resources:
Catalyst Fund, GEF, FSD, UNIDO (2023) Investing in Climate Innovation in Africa: Challenges and Opportunities # 51 p.
Catalyst Fund, in collaboration with Africa: The Big Deal, presents a comprehensive analysis of climate innovation in Africa.
With over 3,000 submissions received in the last year, this study highlights trends, challenges, and opportunities for investors supporting high-impact environmental technology solutions on the continent.
The resulting report provides a detailed overview of emerging sectors, predominant technologies, founder profiles, targeted geographical areas, funding trends, and exit strategies for climate-focused companies in Africa. Supported by philanthropic partners such as FSD Africa, UNIDO, the GEF, and JPMorgan Chase, this effort aims to catalyze the development of the climate resilience ecosystem.Out of the 3,000 proposals received, nearly 90% were dismissed for not having a clear focus on Africa or climate. Among the remaining 300, agriculture and energy emerge as the predominant sectors, although agriculture is more prevalent in the early stages of development. While 40% of solutions in our pre-seed pipeline are in the agricultural sector, data from Africa: The Big Deal indicates that nearly 75% of funding for climate startups in 2022 was allocated to the energy and water sectors.
Africa Disrupt (2023) The African TechStartups Funding Report #57 p
The definition of “African startup” is also a controversial topic. In the clearest scenario, an
African startup would be headquartered in Africa, founded by an African, and have Africa
as its primary market. This, however, is rarely the case. Many Africa-based, Africa-focused
startups are founded by non-Africans. Many Africa-focused, African-founded startups are,
for regulatory and financial reasons, headquartered outside the continent. Many Africa-founded, Africa-based startups target customers elsewhere in the world.
Disrupt Africa tackles this issue on a case-by-case basis, and they may not
always get it right in everybody’s eyes. For the most part, the startups included in this
report are at least Africa-based and Africa-focused, and Disrupt Africa has applied thinking around
the economic impact of a company - and where that impact is most felt - in the event of a
startup diverging from this.
The agri-tech space has been a staple of the startup ecosystem in Africa since its early days, and while the number of funded startups remained consistent, 2023 marked the first year on record that funding into the sector declined - a true sign of the times. Twenty-four (24) startups (5.9 per cent of Africa’s total) raised funding in 2023, up slightly on the 23 (3.6%) in the preceding year; which in turn was up on the 22 startups (3.9%) of 2021. Baby steps over the past couple of years then, but slow and steady growth.(page 41)
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