Facebook celebrates Africa’s vibrant startup scene and rising talent at event

yinka ogunlami

October 20, 2017 11:59 AM

Facebook this week celebrated the achievements of a fast-growing community of African tech entrepreneurs and developers, at the first-ever TechCrunch Startup Battlefield in Africa, sponsored by Facebook.

Alongside the event, the company also hosted a week of activities bringing together hot African startups, developers, influencers and community leaders - to share ideas, learn and connect.

Putting the spotlight on Africa’s creative, diverse talent and vibrant technology companies, that are building products and solving problems for local and global audiences, TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield Africa saw 15 startups battle it out to win a US$25,000 prize.

Nairobi-based Lori Systems, with its product and service in the Productivity and Utility category, was crowned the overall winner for its logistics and cargo platform for African businesses.

Other winners included:

Gaming and entertainment category winner: Ghanaian based SynCommerce, which lets users list and manage their products and inventory across multiple sales platforms i.e. Shopify, eBay, Etsy
Social good category winner: Ghanian based AgroCenta, an online marketplace for African farmers.

Participant, Lanre Oyedotun, Cofounder & CEO of Delivery Science, a Nigeria based startup, commented: “It’s a great experience to be part of Battlefield. It's encouraging that global brands like Facebook and TechCrunch are recognizing the talent in Africa. Our solution, FieldInsight, helps large organizations get visibility into their field operations. To be able to showcase this on a Pan-African platform is a privilege.

Speaking at Startup Battlefield Africa, Ime Archibong, Facebook’s Vice President of Partnerships, said: “Congratulations to all the finalists. I've been so impressed with what I've seen today. Africa truly is a continent with remarkable creativity and talent - it was amazing to see some of Africa's best innovators, makers and technical entrepreneurs showcase their disruptive innovations and tell their stories. I'm looking forward to what Africans will produce in the years to come - truly global products that will become household names.”

Other highlights across the week included:

“Facebook emerged from a vibrant startup ecosystem which enabled us to innovate and grow quickly,” said Emeka Afigbo, Facebook’s Head of Platform Partnerships for Middle East & Africa.

“By supporting events like TechCrunch's Startup Battlefield Africa 2017, and bringing together an array of Facebook events over the week, our aim is to continually nurture the truly exciting tech ecosystem in Africa.”

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yinka ogunlami