MEST Africa Summit 2019 Awards Three Startups With $50,000

Nairobi had the privilege to hold the fourth annual MEST Africa Summit, which saw three startups from Kenya, Ghana and South Africa being awarded $50,000 in Equity by MEST and $25,000 in credit from Microsoft.

The three-day event took place from 10^th to 12th June at the Radisson Blu Hotel and Nairobi incubator — the Nairobi Garage and was in collaboration with Microsoft.

The Pan-African tech conference managed to bring together leading entrepreneurs, investors, ecosystem players, and executives from across Africa and globally to explore the latest innovations and rising stars in the African tech ecosystem.

According to the MEST Managing Director, Aaron Fu, the event presents an opportunity for African scale-ups to expand into new markets, and continue building world-class solutions for African problems.

Speaking during the event, the director said, “It’s our fourth year running the Summit, and it always serves as a reminder of what Africa can achieve with the right blend of talent and experience… We started this to create a space for honest discussions on how the continent can continue to move forward and markets can come together – my hope is that we continue to see this grow and that more collaborations across markets take shape.”

The event was graced by key speakers like Dr. Bitange Ndemo, Philip Thigo, Andreata Muforo (Partner, TLcom), Bilha Ndirangu (CEO, Africa’s Talking), Ngozi Dozie (Co-Founder, Carbon) as well as representatives from Google Launchpad, Safaricom, the African Development Bank.

Previously, MEST has supported and invested in tech enterprises, offering training to over 330 individual entrepreneurs, and over 60 companies starting operations through MEST funding and mentorship.

Liquid Telecom, Africa’s Talking, Oracle, Intel, Lori Systems, Flutterwave, Stratlink, Ethiopian Airlines and a number of ecosystem partners are additional partners who funded this year’s event.