Relevant news on technology, and its startups from Africa

November 20, 2014

Ready To Build? Join Startup Weekend Accra [November 21 - 23]


Every year, as part of the Global Entrepreneurship Week Celebrations, a Startup Weekend event is held in Accra. Startup Weekend, as always described, is

an intense 54-hour event designed to provide superior experiential education for technical and non-technical entrepreneurs.  Beginning with Friday night pitches and continuing through brainstorming, business plan development, and basic prototype creation, Startup Weekends culminate in Sunday night demos and presentations

Over the years, Startup Weekend Accra winners have received notable mentions with Dropifi becoming the first African startup to be a 500 Startups alumnus. From Dropifi, all the way to Chillax, Startup Weekend has been a great event to meet developers, designers, business minds, and other great tech enthusiasts who are serious about building an MVP within 54 hours.

This year, Startup Weekend comes off from 21st to 23rd November, 2014, starting at 6.30pm on Friday. The event will be held at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology over the weekend. It's always a joy to see dreams and ideas come alive. To register for the event, visit their event page on Eventbrite and pay the GHC20 fee on entry.

Come share ideas, build products, have fun and win! See you there!.

November 14, 2014

Africatwenty10 Accelerator Launches

-- PRESS RELEASE -- 


Africa now has a $2 trillion economy, with a third of the continent’s countries growing at 6% or more. It has 60% of the world’s arable land and we will soon have the world’s largest workforce and the youngest continent with 75% of population under 25 years.

Earlier in 2014, GEM published its annual report looking at the state of entrepreneurship globally. It found that sub-Saharan Africa is the region with by far the highest number of people involved in early-stage entrepreneurial activity with Zambia and Nigeria leading the world rankings. In light of these great strides of Africa in entrepreneurship many accelerators have being established to catalyze the growth of entrepreneurship in Africa.

The AfricaTwenty10 Accelerator is looking to solve the problem of the growth of very few truly large African companies (e.g. Seven Seas, Mara Group, Naspers) due to the fragmented and small market size in the different countries. This affects the continents ability to create strong companies and ecosystems.

Africa Twenty10 is an accelerator which will provide a three (3) month intensive program for startups to enable them launch in multiple markets to access bigger market sizes. We aim to balance the companies that we accept to include a fair balance of female led startups, social enterprises along with other profitable and impactful startups.

The Program is supported by Microsoft 4 Afrika Initiative, Appfrica Venture Capital Fund, Expand HR Services and innovation spaces across Africa including iSpace in Ghana. Application opened on 31st October 30 and Closes December 10th , 2014 .Please visit www.AfricaTwenty10.com to apply.

-- END --

October 20, 2014

Ajumah Helps You Find Freelancers and Pay Them With Mobile Money


Product
Ajumah is an online marketplace that enables employers to find, hire and use mobile payment systems to pay skilled African freelancers. It is completely free for employers to post tasks on the site and to receive bids from freelancers. Jobs can posted can be from diverse categories such as web design, data entry, article writing, logo design, software development, social media marketing, Adwords, etc.

It is also free for freelancers to create a profile and to send bids to the jobs posted on the site for consideration. The profile should contain details of a freelancer's skills and expertise as well as past work history and ratings from previous employers to increases their chances of getting hired. After a freelancer's bid is accepted, the employer deposits the money which is kept safely in Ajumah escrow, and it is released to the freelancer on work completion.

Value

  • Value to Employers

Most startups and businesses in Africa do not have the resources to hire permanent employees to get tasks done. Also, finding, managing and paying skilled freelancers takes a lot of time and resources.

Ajumah addresses this problem as it enables businesses post their task or job to thousands of skilled freelancers in Africa to help them get more done while they save time and and prevent overhead administrative cost and permanent hiring cost.

  • Value to Freelancers

Freelancers can easily find freelance job opportunities across the African continent and beyond, work and make money from the comfort of their homes or remotely while they build a great freelance profile and online job reputation. With Ajumah, they can easily receive payment for their work and get rated by past employers to boost their changes of getting hired again.

Successes

  • Start-Up Chile Accelerator Participant, Generation 11 (link here)
  • Online launch - October 2014


Team
We are a new startup made team of experienced software entrepreneurs with years experience in developing software that solves problems locally in Africa.

We believe that there is a wide pool of quality talent on the African continent and that when given the opportunity and the right platform, they can unleash their potential to contribute to development. Our goal is to provide this platform so that young Africans can create a gig economy by raising their income levels with their skills and talents.

We also believe that businesses can leverage on this talent to attain high growth by getting tasks done quicker and cheaper by experts; and that a marketplace that connects experts with startups is a huge step in the process.


Development Stack
Confidential

Contact/Social Media/Job Openings

October 13, 2014

Ethel Cofie Shortlisted As Part of 5 Women in UN ITU GEM Tech Awards

As part of the United Nation(UN) and International Telecommunications Union (ITU) GEM Tech Awards, Ethel Cofie was  1 of 5 shortlisted from over 360 nominations for the GEM Tech Awards under the Category : Promoting Women in ICT Sector. Winners will be announced at PP-14 on 28th October 2014. Below is the list of the 5 shortlisted candidates for the same category. Categories which have Africans shortlisted are also listed here.
 
CATEGORY 3:  Promoting Women in ICT Sector - initiatives aimed at attracting, retaining and promoting women within the ICT sector and into decision-making positions (private and public sector)

Luna Shamsuddoha – President, Bangladesh Women in Technology (Bangladesh)
Luna's efforts have been in gender equality and inclusion of women and girls through education participation in the ICT sector in particular. She has been engaged in a number of activities to promote gender empowerment within the ICT sector including leadership roles in private business, government and the banking sector, and advocacy work through speaking roles and work with various NGOs.

Ethel Cofie – Founder, Women in Technology Alliance Africa (Ghana)
Ethel Cofie is the founder of the Women in Tech group in Ghana, a platform to help women in the ICT industry grow and climb the cooperate ladder with networking sessions. The events have brought together a variety of speakers such as Estelle Akrofi, Country Manager of Google, and Otema Yirenkyi, Country Manager of Microsoft Ghana, who draw on their diverse range of backgrounds and personal experiences to discuss tips, tricks, and anecdotes on how women can take advantage of changes happening in the high tech world.

Ifat Baron – Executive Director, ITWorks-Empowering People (Israel)
Ifat Baron established ITWorks, an Israeli non-profit organization in 2006, to provide economically disenfranchised women throughout Israel with technological training, professional skills, and job placement support, helping them launch careers in unfilled positions in Israel's hi-tech and communications industries. ITWorks has provided approximately 1,100 women with the tools for financial self-sufficiency and long-term integration into Israel's thriving technology sectors, successfully maintaining a 73% quality job placement rate.

Dr Salim Sultan Salim Al Ruzaiqi – CEO, Information Technology Authority (Oman)
Dr Salim is active in bridging the digital gender divide and empowering women in Oman. Realising that Omani women cannot be left behind in the pursuit of knowledge in the digital age, he has implementation of various capacity building initiatives targeted for Omani women, so they become avid users and contributors in a knowledge-based economy.

BCS, The Chartered Institute for IT (UK)
Established in 2007, BCSWomen is a group of almost 1500 IT professionals who, as volunteers, work on numerous initiatives to encourage more women to join the IT profession and support those who are part of it, including training courses, virtual activities using social media and discussion groups. The group comprises women working in technology based roles from across all industry sectors and has an international membership. 
 
Other African Persons and Projects shortlisted under different categories:

CATEGORY 1: ICT Applications, Content, Production Capacities and Skills for Women's Social, Political Empowerment and Women's Empowerment Linkages with Sustainable Development.
Muso Ladamunen – MAMMA project (Mobile Mothers against Malaria in Mali) (Mali)
UNESCO – Women in African History: An E-Learning Tool (Ethiopia)
Women in African History: An E-Learning Tool is a platform that consists of multimedia educational resources including comic strips, audio modules, and quizzes which highlight the role of women in African history.

CATEGORY 2: ICT Applications, Content, Production Capacities and Skills for Women's Economic Empowerment and Poverty Reduction
Sophie Kumwanje – Malawi Country Manager, Grow Movement, (Malawi)
Grow Movement provides virtual consultancy to female entrepreneurs, aimed at improving their ICT, financial literacy and marketing skills which enables each woman to run their businesses better, employ more people in their community and earn more money.
Asikana Network (Zambia)
The organization aims to increase female participation in computer science. In order to do so, the Asikana Network focuses on teaching ICT skills to young girls, paying particular attention to vulnerable girls so that they can access better jobs
 
CATEGORY 4:  Enabling Girls to Become ICT Creators - initiatives aimed towards providing girls with an opportunity to become not just active users but also creators of ICTs and content
CEFEPROD (Women's Centre for the Promotion of Development) (Cameroon)
The organization is engaged in multiple activities to encourage women and girls to participate in the ICT sector. These include annual 'Girls in ICT Day' celebrations which aim to encourage thousands of young girls to choose science courses and careers in the ICT sector by giving talks in schools, hosting competitions  and inviting female leaders in the ICT sector  to share their experiences with the girls.
 
Category 5: Closing the ICT Gender Gap - Ensuring ICT accessibility for women, such as digital literacy training and ensuring affordable and meaningful access to ICTs by women. Initiatives aimed at measuring the ICT gender gap including research and data on women's engagement with ICTs and their impact
Women's Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) (Nigeria)
Set up in 2008, the Women's Technology Empowerment Centre (W.TEC) builds the capability of Nigerian girls and women to increase their economic power and to speak about issues affecting their lives through information and communication technology (ICT)-based training and projects, focusing on education, activism, entrepreneurship, and professional activities.
 
Category 6: Efforts to Reduce Threats Online and Building Women's Confidence and Security in the Use of ICTs
Association for Progressive Communication (APC) – Feminist Tech Exchanges (FTX) (South Africa)
Through skills diffusion and capacity building, the Feminist Tech Exchange (FTX) empowers women's rights organizations, advocates and feminists. FTXs train women's rights advocates in essential internet, audio and other technical skills to enable them to use technology to more effectively to document abuses, build knowledge, disseminate information, mobilize support and amplify pressures for change
 
Category 7: ICT and Broadband strategies policies, framework that promote women's digital empowerment
Federal Ministry of Communication Technology (Nigeria)
The social and economic transformation of Nigeria requires that the economically active population be empowered and productive. Women, a significant part of this population, traditionally tend to be marginalized, but ICTs provide a useful avenue for the inclusion and active participation of women in development.

For further details about the Awards finalists, please visit http://www.itu.int/en/action/women/gem/Pages/finalists.aspx

October 07, 2014

DEMO Top 40: Paysail Helps Businesses and Accountants Run Payroll Via Mobile Money



PaySail is the easiest way for businesses and accountants in Africa to run payroll, file tax and social security and also pay employees via Mobile Money or through the Bank. With a keen focus on simplicity of design and ease of use, PaySail automates every aspect of the payroll process.

Product
With PaySail, payroll taxes are automatically calculated each month, based on employees’ basic salaries. Paysail generates simple payroll reports available in multiple formats (including Excel). Paysail also generates and sends payslips to employees by email. These payslips can be accessed by the employee at anytime, from anywhere.

Value
By providing an extremely easy way for businesses to run payroll, pay employees and file taxes, we want to give local businesses a better payroll experience.

Successes
Our first success was to raise seed funding from the Meltwater Foundation. It’s generally hard for startups in Ghana to raise seed funding of any amount.
Our next success is that we are currently processing payroll for over 60 businesses after 5 months of starting PaySail.
We also ranked 2nd place at the Seedstars Accra event held in June this year.
Currently, we are one of 5 DEMO Africa LIONS who will be pitching in the US at DEMO.

Team
Precious Nyarko, CEO - Precious is a former Corporate Accounts manager at City Investments Company Limited. He is an Accountant by profession and a Graduate of Zenith University College . Precious also years of experience designing user interaction for scalable mobile and web applications.

Samuel Ako, CTO - Samuel Ako has over 5 years programming experience. His specialty is in developing scalable backend infrastructure for mobile and web applications. He also has strong interests in BigData and Natural Language Processing. He has a degree in Mathematics and Computer Science from University of Ghana Legon.

Osborn Adu-Kwarteng, Business Development - Osborn is a Google certified AdWords practitioner and has a degree in Mathematics from KNUST. Osborn loves to develop business strategies and to manage technical projects. Also is also a programmer and spends time developing various software projects using new web technologies.

Development Stack
PaySail is built with Node.js using the Express Framework. We currently host PaySail on Heroku whilst we use MongoDB to manage our data.

Contact/Social Media/Job Openings
Find us on Twitter on @happypayroll. You can also reach us by mail at info@paysail.co. Please visit https://www.paysail.co/jobs to see our job postings

October 03, 2014

A Look Into MEST Incubator's Newest Startups [2014]

Every year, several companies move from the software development training programme of the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology to join the existing companies at the MEST Incubator. With 2 acquisitions within nine months (ClaimSync and Saya), little needs to be said about the MEST Incubator and its successes.

This year, the MEST Incubator welcomes 4 successfully funded companies from the MEST Graduating Class of 2014. This post provides an introduction to all the 4 companies who will be outlined in details in following posts.

Beam is a remittance service for Ghanaians and Nigerians living abroad to instantly and affordably send money back home using Bitcoins, a digital currency. The company was co-founded by Nikunj Handa (CEO) and Falk Benke (CTO), both former MEST Teaching Fellows.
Beam is currently in private beta, and will be launching in October 2014. You can sign up to be a part of the Beam beta test at beamremit.com. For more information about Beam, email hello@beamremit.com.



African businesses who wanted a simple, automated payroll solution used to have to choose between solutions that were either poorly optimized for local tax laws, or expensive, bloated alternatives. Enter PaySail!

PaySail is a simple, web-based system that helps Ghanaian businesses run payroll, generate the appropriate tax and social security filings and reports, and pay employees each month.
The founding team is Precious Nyarko (CEO), Samuel Ako (CTO) and Osborn Kwarteng (Biz Dev), all graduates from the MEST 2014 class. PaySail was recently crowned a DEMO LION at DEMO Africa 2014. For more information about PaySail, email info@paysail.co.


For online merchants and store owners, managing multiple stores across platforms such as Amazon and Ebay can be a logistical nightmare.

SynCommerce helps online merchants manage inventory and process orders across multiple sales channels from a centralized dashboard. The co-founders are Christian Osei-Bonsu, Godwin Elorm Adjaho, Albert Fiati and Joel Funu, all graduates from the MEST Class of 2014. For more information about SynCommerce, email info@syncommerceapp.com.

Vestracker is the information management system for the freight forwarding industry, helping freight forwarders seamlessly coordinate between clients, suppliers, and the many different people who help consignments get from one port to another.
The co-founders are Osam Kyemenu-Sarsah (CEO), Fui Dodzi-Nusenu (CTO), Linda Ansong (Biz. Dev), and Emmanuel Anim (Product Manager). For more information about Vestracker, email info@vestracker.com.

The MEST Incubator has produced some of Africa's best startups, and received lots of media mentions for its contributions to employment and tech development in Africa. Much is expected of this new batch of MEST Incubator companies, and we wish them the best as they seek to make a good name and continue the good works of Africa's youth.

What's The Way Forward For Entrepreneurs After DEMO Africa 2014?

The International community added their voice to emphasize the need to tap entrepreneurial energy among Africans at the DEMO Africa event held in Lagos last week. The event which brought together players in the technology scene provided a critical platform for discussions geared towards fast tracking prosperity and growth in Africa with entrepreneurship being cited as the key to Africa’s freedom and prosperity.

In a video message to the participants, The US Secretary of State John Kerry emphasized the need to groom Africa’s young population to tap the entrepreneurial energy. He reminded Africans that places where people are free to trade and transform ideas are on the right track to growth and prosperity. “You can count on the United States support as you take on this journey to transformation through entrepreneurship.” He assured.

To thump their support, the US State Department through the LIONS@FRICA partnership will this year sponsor five DEMO Africa start-ups for a 10 day trip to pitch at the DEMO US. The five who were picked from the forty that pitched on the DEMO Africa platform, include Jifunza (Rwanda), Nerve (Nigeria), Paysail (Ghana), Chura (Kenya) and Spacepointe (Nigeria).

Players within the African technology scene seem to have headed to the call to secure Africa’s freedom. This was evident as they converged for the first pan-African Angel investor’s forum at DEMO Africa. Here, the need to work together in a pan-African Business Angel Network was reiterated. The investors present, both local and international, included angel investors, impact investors, venture capital funds, and corporate venture capital actors; all focused on early stage SME investing in Africa.VC4Africa’s CEO and Founder Ben White explains: “We see angel networks emerging across the continent. Now is the time to bring them together in a shared conversation about how best to move forward.”

The interest around the business-technology scene In Africa is on the rise. Notable influencers including Baybars Altuntas, Vice President of the European Business Angel Network (EBAN), was present at the DEMO Africa forum representing the interest and views of over 20,000 angel investors across Europe. Baybars confirmed that indeed, the majority of EBAN members want to learn more about African startups and the ecosystem, this being their new source of investment pipeline. “To fully engage European angel investors we seek our counterparts across Africa. This is key for co-investing into opportunities on the ground. The European Business Angel Network could support an African Business Angel Network with incubation.”

In line with this new found interest of the international community, VC4Africa Ben White confirmed that VC4Africa will rally a delegation of angel investors from African countries to participate in the European Business Angel Network will be held in Helsinki, Finland in November which will see among other things a roadmap developed for the way forward for Africa.

Microsoft, another key player announced a new Collaboration Challenge with AfriLabs to increase knowledge sharing across the hub network in Africa and spur innovation. The challenge, officially launched at this year’s DEMO Africa event, is tasking hub members with proposing and delivering an activity, process or tool that fosters collaboration within the AfriLabs network.

AfriLabs’ core function is to facilitate collaboration, which requires the right platforms, mechanisms and incentives for hubs and their teams to share information and dialogue. The winning solution will receive $15,000 from Microsoft and technical support to develop it. The hubs within the AfriLabs network will be provided with a more efficient way to learn from each other’s best practices and build more sustainable models.

This year’s event had been organized in collaboration with the LIONS@FRICA partners (Microsoft, Nokia, US State Department, DEMO, USAID, African Development Bank, VC4Africa among others) and Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies.

The DEMO Africa 2014 event was sponsored by Nigeria Information and Technology Development Agency (NIITDA), Microsoft, USADF, Department of State, Evernote, SWELL, Airtel, Bank of Industry, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System, Accenture, MTN, Oasis Management Company, Tony Elumelu Foundation and Main One.

September 26, 2014

Saisai Grabs SWELL Innovation Award As DEMO Africa Comes To A Close

Last Friday marked the final day of the 2014 edition of DEMO Africa. The event which drew the attention of top investors, IT buyers, IT consumers, Government officials and IT enthusiasts from across Africa, saw new flames fanned around the unveiled innovations.

The event has ended on an indescribable high note as Saisai from Zimbabwe rightfully scooped the SWELL Innovation award with Irofit and VOTO taking the first and second runners up positions respectively. The start-up will receive an all-expense paid trip to Silicon Valley as part of the SWELL Innovation Tour, which includes the exclusive participation in SWELL’s intensive soft landing program in Silicon Valley. Mike Chen, SWELL’s Founder expressed his excitement to be holding the inaugural SWELL Innovation awards in Africa and partnering with DEMO Africa. “I am confident that the SWELL Awards in Africa will represent an important element of the Global Startup Engagement platform to accelerate disruption and invoke corporate participation.”

Harry Hare the Executive Producer of DEMO Africa commended the participants for showing such great enthusiasm towards finding the much needed solutions for Africa. 

“It is inspiring to see that, now, more attention is being accorded the pursuit of solutions to problems that are uniquely African. The continent has one of the most diverse and talented pool of young people and finally, we are seeing a real intent by authorities to utilize the massive power within these brains to bring positive change, especially through technology.”

This week at DEMO Africa, besides the boom Camp and the Ampion Venture bus which graced this year’s event, serious minds came together through various organized meetings including the LIONS@frica Summit and the Pan African Angel Investors Summit which were held on Wednesday. VC4Africa’s CEO and Founder Ben White explained that the introduction of the new exclusive investor only event as part of the DEMO Africa is the next step in making sure the leading innovators from across the continent are going to get the backing they need to achieve scale. “We have seen angel networks emerging across the continent and now is the time to bring them together in a shared conversation about how best to move forward.”

This year’s event had been organized in collaboration with the LIONS@FRICA partners (Microsoft, Nokia, US State Department, DEMO, USAID, African Development Bank, VC4Africa among others) and Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies.

The DEMO Africa 2014 event was sponsored by Nigeria Information and Technology Development Agency (NIITDA), Software Giant Microsoft, USADF, Department of State, Evernote, SWELL, Airtel, Bank of Industry, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System, Accenture, MTN, Oasis Management Company, Tony Elumelu Foundation and Main One.

DEMO Africa, one of the flagship initiatives of the LIONS@FRICA partnership has over the years cemented its reputation for consistently identifying tomorrow's cutting-edge technologies, and served as a launch pad event for Africa technology start-ups. The DEMO experience is 22 years old globally and in its third year in Africa with chapters in the United States, Europe, Brazil and Asia.

September 25, 2014

DEMO Africa Kicks Off In Lagos

The DEMO Africa event finally kicked off at the Lagos Oriental Hotel in Nigeria to an expectant audience of top investors, IT buyers, IT consumers, Government officials and IT enthusiasts from across Africa.

The event which begun on an amazing high note, saw the first batch of the forty DEMO Africa finalist launch their IT generated solutions with the hope of attracting the right eye to take their innovation to the next level. These included VOTO Mobile from Ghana, Chura from Kenya, Cube and Hutbay from Nigeria.

Welcoming the guests, Honorable Minister of Communication Technology Dr Omobola Johnson commented that Africa is no longer a continent plagued with disease, hunger and illiteracy.  She emphasized that Africa is rising and it’s time to invest in Africa. “Aside from Asia, we are the fastest rising continent and we are very excited as a government about the prospects that we are seeing in our young .I would urge the demonstrators to believe that it is possible to be the next Alibaba.”

Harry Hare the Executive Producer of DEMO Africa commended the participants for showing such great enthusiasm towards finding the much needed solutions for Africa. 

“It is inspiring to see that, now, more attention is being accorded the pursuit of solutions to problems that are uniquely African. The continent has one of the most diverse and talented pool of young people and finally, we are seeing a real intent by authorities to utilize the massive power within these brains to bring positive change, especially through technology.”

The DEMO Africa forum has seen serious minds put together through various organized forums including the LIONS@frica Summit and the Pan African Angel Investors forum held yesterday. VC4Africa’s CEO and Founder Ben White explains: “Going into the third year of DEMO Africa, we are excited to introduce a new exclusive investor-only event as part of the DEMO Africa 2014 event. This is the next step in making sure the leading innovators from across the continent are going to get the backing they need to achieve scale. At the same time, we see angel networks emerging across the continent. Now is the time to bring them together in a shared conversation about how best to move forward.”

Tomorrow will see the final group of the Final Forty take to the DEMO Africa stage as well as see eight of the start-ups participate in the SWELL Innovations awards. The winner will receive a one week business development & investor roadshow in Silicon Valley. 

This year’s event has been organized in collaboration with the LIONS@FRICA partners (Microsoft, Nokia, US State Department, DEMO, USAID, African Development Bank, VC4Africa among others) and Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies.

The DEMO Africa 2014 event is sponsored by Nigeria Information and Technology Development Agency (NIITDA), Software Giant Microsoft, USADF, Department of State, Evernote, SWELL, Airtel, Bank of Industry, Nigeria Interbank Settlement System, Accenture, MTN, Oasis Management Company, Tony Elumelu Foundation and Main One.

DEMO Africa, one of the flagship initiatives of the LIONS@FRICA partnership has over the years cemented its reputation for consistently identifying tomorrow's cutting-edge technologies, and served as a launch pad event for Africa technology start-ups. The DEMO experience is 22 years old globally and in its third year in Africa with chapters in the United States, Europe, Brazil and Asia.

For more information please contact:

Evelyne Wangui | Project and Communication Manager
Office:+254  20  404 1646
Mobile:+254  726 087 451
Email: evelyne.wangui@demo-africa.com

Mr. Yele Okeremi | Chairman, Nigerian Local Organising Committee
Mobile: +234 803 304 1049
Email: yele@thepfs.biz

September 12, 2014

Tony Elumelu, Other Top Business Executives Attending DEMO 2014

A sneak preview into DEMO-Africa’s list of expected guests has revealed the names of some of the most influential business and technology personalities. The list features Mr. Tony Elumelu, the Chairman of Heirs Holdings and founder of Tony Elumelu Foundation; Mr. Baybars Altuntas, Vice president of The European trade Association for Business Angels (EBAN); Fernando de Sousa, the General Manager, Microsoft for Africa initiative; Mr. Jason Njoku the founder of IROKO and Mr. John. Momoh, the CEO, of Channels TV, Nigeria.

This year’s edition of DEMO Africa which will also be addressed by the Minister for Communication Technology, Dr (Mrs.) Omobola Johnson and her counterpart in the ministry, PS, Dr Tunji Olaopa, is expected to fuel discussions geared towards making critical adjustments that will allow Africa to create a better environment for business.

Besides gracing the event to scout for talent on the DEMO Africa stage, the key guests are scheduled to exchange ideas at the Angels Investors Summit on the 24th which will allow a knowledge exchange between the continent’s various angel investors and map out the future of angel investing in Africa.

Commenting on the heightened excitement from the expected participation, Mr. Yele Okeremi, the Chairman of the Local Organizing Committee, expressed confidence on the outcome of the event. “We feel honored to be able to host some of Africa’s biggest minds. We are positive that the ideas shared at this forum will be implemented to make Africa realize the dream of self-sufficiency.”

SpacePointe’ s   founder Sayu Abend, one of the finalists scheduled to pitch on the DEMO Africa, expressed optimism in the event stating that the unique mix of mentors and role models expected at the event is a rich source of important lessons for young entrepreneurs and the start-up businesses in Africa. “I am positive that SpacePointe and other participating start-ups are bound to grow from this experience.”

The DEMO Africa event preparations are now in the very final stages. Participants are being called upon to sign up on https://www.eventbrite.com/e/demo-africa-2014-tickets-10936486325 to secure their participation. There is a special package available to investor delegates which comprises 15% discount on a DEMO Africa ticket, 15% discount on a VC4Africa Pro Account, Access to the companies' financials, Ticket to the Investor Cocktail on DEMO Africa's opening evening, Ticket to a special Investor Boomcamp as well as access to a special Investor Lounge and Deal Room at DEMO Africa. More information on this package can be found athttp://vc4afri.ca/h6j8u

This year’s event is being organized in collaboration with the LIONS@FRICA partners (Microsoft, Nokia, US State Department, DEMO, USAID, African Development Bank, VC4Africa among others) and Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies.

September 09, 2014

Chillax Invited To Pitch at Mobile Web Africa Competition in South Africa

Chillax - Feel your city's pulse. 

Chillax has been invited to pitch at the Mobile Web Africa Conference App Developer Competition in Johannesburg this Thursday. The App Developer  competition is sponsored by Intel, Mobile Monday & App Circus. The competition brings together the very best of early stage startups across the continent with the winner getting a fully paid trip to Barcelona next year to participate in the Mobile World Congress as well as other prizes from the sponsors.

Chillax's participation in the competition is sponsored by The Whitaker Group Inc TWG - an international trade consultancy firm with a focus on helping African businesses achieve their full potential.

Chillax is a city themed app for major cities in Africa, in light of this we are pleased to announce that we will be officially launching Chillax Johannesburg in South Africa on Thursday. We will also be looking to establish strong partnerships to build the Chillax brand in Johannesburg.

Chillax was birthed at last year's Startup Weekend Accra event held at the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology. It came tops amidst 13 ideas presented in November 2013. The current Chillax team comprises:
  1. Jesse Johnson - Product Devt/Design Lead
  2. Gerald Pharin - Tech Lead
  3. Laud Bentil - Data/Backend Devt.
  4. Ama Asantewaa aka Poetra Asantewaa - PR. Communication, Social Media 8 Branding
  5. Kingsley Abrokwah - Team Lead/ Business Lead

About The Whitaker Group
The Whitaker Group (TWG) is the premier consultancy focused on trade, business and investment in Africa. Led by Rosa Whitaker, the first ever Assistant US Trade Representative to Africa, TWG has facilitated over $3 billion in capital flows to Africa since its founding in 2003.

Follow Chillax on Twitter and download their Android app. Kudos to the team, we wish them the best.

September 01, 2014

#DEMOTop40 : mergims Aggregates Product Listings from Merchants Across Africa



Online retailing is growing across Africa. Several startups are making strides in targeting these sectors. One of such startups is mergims. Mergims is currently listing merchants to its site and mobile app to allow diaspora members purchase goods or services online for their loved one in Africa.

Product
A website and a mobile application (IOS now, soon an Android app)

Value
Our business model will bring the cost much lower than the 10% minimum charged by Western Union and its lookalikes . The processes will take 5 minutes instead of 2 hours required in average.

Successes
  • We have an angel investor with us, Mr Pule from African Angel Network
  • We have our IOS mobile App ready
  • We made it in top 40 for DEMO Africa 2014
  • We are securing partnership with merchants in East Africa that we can not disclose for now
  • We have a strong team
  • Lot of followers on various social media platforms
The MERGIMS Team


Team
MERGIMS (combination of merging markets was started in the summer 2012) is run by the following people:
  • Muhire Louis-Antoine, a Canadian University graduate in communications. As the Founder & CIO and in charge of investor relations Muhire has been in Internet business since he was 20 years old. The Rwanda-born entrepreneur left Rwanda after the genocide and has been living in Canada since then.
  • Gilbert Niyo Mugabo, COO, who has been to US and Canadian universities graduated in Logistics, a Siupply Chain Specialist with extensive experience in business administration.
  • 2 Partners (Mr Rey Lionel, Accountant; Miss Ayesha Akhtar, Legal manager and Executive Marketing)
  • Mr Jean Paul Mugizi, Technical Product Manager and IT Consultant
Development Stack
Confidential

Contact/Social Media/Job Openings
PR : Muhire Louis Antoine ,CIO and Co-founder muhirela@mergims.com

Website : www.mergims.com
Twitter : @infomergims
Facebook: /MERGIMS

Job opening : CEO, Webmaster and CRM with experience and ready to work in  East Africa.

Microsoft Takes Up Platinum Sponsorship for DEMO Africa 2014


PRESS RELEASE

1st September 2014

Software Giant, Microsoft to sponsor this year’s DEMO Africa Event

Microsoft Corporation has taken up platinum sponsorship for this year’s edition of DEMO Africa that will be held later in the month, in Lagos, Nigeria. The company will participate in the event for the 3rd time under the Microsoft 4Afrika initiative.
The sponsorship will see Microsoft offer financial support for the event where 40 tech based start-ups from across Africa are expected to pitch to potential investors. DEMO Africa recently released the names of the final 40 start-ups that will launch on the DEMO Africa stage where Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya and Egypt will have the highest representation.

Commenting on the collaboration, Fernando de Sousa, GM Africa Initiatives at Microsoft, underscored the importance of innovations to the growing African economy. “DEMO Africa has given a platform for investors to realize the enormous potential amongst African youth showcased through startups. As an organization that has operated in the continent for over 20 years, Microsoft believes  Africa’s economic take-off to long-term growth prospects  will be determined by the investment decisions we make today in support of  youth initiatives. ”

Welcoming the support, DEMO Africa’s Executive Producer, Harry Hare commented that investor’s confidence plays a very critical role in motivating start-up entrepreneurs .” We acknowledge the support of Microsoft and their efforts in uplifting young entrepreneurs in Africa. It’s this kind of support that assures us that the future is indeed bright for Africa and at DEMO Africa we are keen to make our contribution to this success.

As has been witnessed in the past, the September event is expected to attract top investors, tech acquisition specialists, IT buyers and media from across the region and around the globe. Participants’ registration is already open on https://www.eventbrite.com/e/demo-africa-2014-tickets-10936486325.

The secretariat has put together a special package for investor delegates which comprises:15% discount on a DEMO Africa ticket, 15% discount on a VC4A Pro Account, Access to the companies' financials, Ticket to the Investor Cocktail on DEMO Africa's opening evening, Ticket to a special Investor Boomcamp as well as access to a special Investor Lounge and Deal Room at DEMO Africa. More information on this package can be found at http://vc4afri.ca/h6j8u

DEMO Africa 2014 is scheduled to take place between 22nd and 26th of September at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria. This year’s event is being organized in collaboration with the LIONS@FRICA partners, VC4Africa and Nigeria’s Federal Ministry of Information and Communication Technologies.

For more information please contact:

Evelyne Wangui | Project and Communication Manager
Office:+254  20  404 1646
Mobile:+254  726 087 451
Email: evelyne.wangui@demo-africa.com

Annette Mutuku|PR & Communications Lead, Africa Initiatives at Microsoft:Email:v-amutuk@microsoft.com)africa.com

August 31, 2014

#DEMOTop40 : Nikweli Is An SMS-Based Job Matching Service



Nikweli is a mobile-to-web job matching platform that connects employers and job seekers for service and industry sector positions. Job seekers register their standardized professional details through SMS. We control quality of the database. Employers search and compile candidates online with a click. We aim to expand reach, reduce cost and time, and bring more transparency for employers and job seekers alike.

Product
Job seekers register their standardized professional details through an automatic SMS survey. We have various checking mechanisms to try to make sure the details are as accurate and detailed as possible. Employers search for candidates on our web interface with criteria that are important to them. They can compile chosen candidates with a click. Once the employer pays, they will be able to see the full information and contact details of the candidates they have chosen. The shortlisting process is done. The rest is up to the employers to interview their candidates.

There is a lot of potential for expansion with additional functionalities to make sure the experience is smooth and painless for both employers and job seekers alike.

Value
Problem: In Tanzania, 850,000 candidates enter the labour market each year. Most struggle to find employment due to financial constraints, few connections, and inaccurate knowledge. Employers complain about time and financial cost to find honest and good workers.

Opportunity: With more than 90% of job seekers able to use a simple phone – compared to only 12% with internet access – there is an enormous opportunity to leverage mobile technology to provide a scalable recruitment solution.

Solution: Nikweli is faster, easier and more efficient for employers and job seekers alike than our competitors. Candidates register their professional details from a simple phone. Employers search, sort, and shortlist candidates via an intuitive online interface.

Our main competitors are recruitment agencies, websites with job postings, and two other new job postings through SMS services. We believe our targets and methods to reach our clients are different enough from our competitors that we occupy a good-size niche.

Successes
We have over 600 job seekers signed up. Currently, we are scaling our database to 1000+ candidates. We have 10 employers signed up for trials since our prototype 1.0 was realised. We are pushing for our second phase of employer trials in the next 3 weeks.

We are also in discussions on partnerships with Millicom/Tigo, Restless Development, Dar Teknohama Business Incubator, and other partners.

Current:
Restless Development -presence in the youth job-seekers community
VIBINDO - presence in the informal sector community

Prospective (discussions with partner are ongoing):
TIGO - mobile operator focusing on youth and low income customer segment in Tanzania (and subsequently other mobile operators in the country)
DTBi - business incubator in Tanzania, offering connection with local technology community for building the platform

Awards:
- Semi-Finalist at the Rice Business Plan Competition 2014 (http://alliance.rice.edu/rbpc.aspx); currently under mentorship program from the Rice Business Plan Competition.

- Top 40 Startup Finalist for DEMO Africa 2014 (www.demoafrica2014.com) to present in Lagos, Nigeria in September 2014.


Tifany Tong
Agnieszka Łyniewska

Team
Combined, we have 10+ years of experience in Tanzania, especially in private sector development. Whether in the field, in the city, with private companies or public organizations, we have the business savvy, technical skills, experience, and passion to make Nikweli happen.

Our two co-founders are Tiffany Tong and Agnieszka Łyniewska.
Agnieszka is the original founder of Nikweli. She worked as a private sector development economist at the World Bank in Tanzania and as a strategy consultant in London and Spain. She finished her MBA at London Business School. Apart from the original idea and passion to implement it, she brings to Nikweli business acumen, management skills as well as relationships and knowledge of Tanzanian business environment.

Tiffany is the other co-founder of Nikweli. She has lived in East Africa (Tanzania and Uganda) for over 4 years, working in operations in rural villages and capital cities; with donors and private companies. She most recently coordinated an impact evaluation research project with the World Bank in Tanzania. She brings detailed local knowledge and hard-earned project implementation skills to Nikweli.


Development Stack
Confidential

Contact/Social Media/Job Openings
Web: http://nikweli.com or https://vc4africa.biz/ventures/nikweli/
Twitter: @Nikweli_tz
Facebook: /nikweli.tz
Or email us at info@nikweli.com

August 30, 2014

#DEMOTop40 : m-MuZiik Is A Music Streaming Service For Feature Phones



Product
m-MuZiik ( formerly MuZik) is a music streaming service for feature phones , first. On-demand, without Internet connection, users access unlimited free legal music and live new music experience on the go. No app to install, no music storage, just SMS an information about a song, and m-MuZiik plays it on your mobile phone.

Value
  • Unlimited free music
  • Musical listening every where you go
  • No apps to install
  • No Internet Connection required
Successes
Demo Africa Top 40

Team
  • Patrick Mveng ( @adelphepatrick) , CEO & Founder , Looking for Adam 2.0
  • Diane Djiele, CFO
  • Moïse Keutchatcham, UX Engineer
  • Germain Akono, GSM Engineer

Development Stack
  • GSM Technologies
  • Proprietary Artificial Intelligence algorithms (Machine Learning, NLP, Machine Marketing)

Contact/Social Media/Job Openings
Twitter : @mmuziik
Facebook : https://www.facebook.com/pages/m-MuZiik
Email : mmuziik@adelrick.com

August 29, 2014

#DEMOTop40 : Integrated Medics Is a Medical Info Management System for Hospitals




D8ONE8 Technologies Limited has developed an array of software mostly suited for the African continent. These products include Integrated School Portal, Autoklic, Gospeltunes, Capstone Manager, Mediclue, etc. Integrated Medics is one of D8ONE8's products, and it has made it to the Top 40 list of this year's DEMO Africa list of startups.

Product
Integrated MEDICS is a user friendly, multi-functional, web based Medical Information Management System, otherwise called Medics, designed to computerize all classes of hospitals, while putting into consideration the complexities involved in the medical industry.

Value
  1. All medical and non-medical department within hospital on a single platform
  2. Best inpatient management platform
  3. Hundreds of medical reports
  4. Platform and back-end independent
  5. The best in time of financial reporting (Get real time balance sheet)
  6. Multi-tenants
  7. Well documented - no need of special training before use
  8. Audit trail
  9. Beautiful User Interface and User friendly
  10. Highly customizable interface

Successes
Integrated MEDICS is currently running in General Hospital, Niger State, Nigeria.

Team
  • Gbenle Oladapo
  • Tobi Ogunbode
  • Dele Bamidele

Development Stack
Confidential

Contact/Social Media/Job Openings
Web: www.integratedmedics.com
Email: info@integratedmedics.com

August 28, 2014

#DEMOTop40 : Foodstantly Is An Online Marketplace for Food


Foodstantly is an online marketplace for food. Foodstantly uses technology to provide market access to farmers, food traders and restaurant. We do this by providing them with a mobile –web platform to set up shops, accepts payment, display good, promote goods and deliver direct to millions of consumers across the nation.
The sellers are given an easy simple to use interface to register, set up online shop and start selling through their mobile phones or internet enabled device.

Product
Our 3 main products are:

  • Ready to cook: for farmer, food traders, frozen food dealers and restaurants to set up online shop and sell and deliver food stuffs/farm produce direct to consumers. Thereby saving the consumers the stress and hassles of going to the open air market to buy foodstuffs and farm produce.
  • Ready to eat: is for restaurant discovery and online meal ordering .Restaurant and fast-food can set up shop, sell and deliver to consumers. Consumers can in the comfort of their homes or offices order for meals and take delivery at their doorpost .Solving the challenges of traffic, hassles, time wastage etc.
  • Farm Produce Aggregation: this involves entering into partnership with farms, take delivery from the farm gate of all their harvest, sort it in sorting centres and sell it direct to consumers on the platform.


Value
For consumers we provide convenience and same they time. For sellers we provide them with easy market access and use technology to grow their business without any physical barrier.

Successes
We have sellers from across the nation sign up these are farmers, food traders, food wholesalers and restaurant chains. We also have users registered across the country and monthly our order are growing. We also are opening up new channels and products to complement the existing ones.

Team
We are a 6-man team made up of individuals skilled in business development, marketing and product development.

About The Founder
I'm Uche Ariolu, professionally a lawyer but at heart an entrepreneur; I love building businesses and love creating jobs. I have set up a series of small business from my school days. I worked for a while in the food and hospitality industry and gained a lot of knowledge about the industry as well as worked in the ICT outsourcing industry as a freelancer for 10 years. Just before I set up Foodstantly I set up TicketMyPal an event discovery and online ticket sales platform for shows,events,seminars and entertainment.


Contact/Social Media/Job Openings
Email: info@foodstantly.com
Facebook; Foodstantly
Twitter: @Foodstantly
Instagram: Foodstantly
Web: foodstantly.com
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/foodstantly

We need marketing executives and content writers and graphic designers at the moment.
Phone:08033398189
Personal Twitter:@chayex
Personal Facebook;Uchay Ariolu
Personal Linkedin: ng.linkedin.com/in/ucheariolu/

August 26, 2014

#DEMOTop40 : Matibabu Prevents and Diagnoses Malaria With a Phone and a "Matiscope"

As per the WHO report 2013 a child dies from malaria every 60 secconds. Current malaria detection methods require a blood sample and diagnosis is then conducted via microscope (30 min) or molecular diagnostic methods (15 min). Microscopes cannot do early detection because of under sampling, while molecular diagnostics don’t give a count of plasmodium. Matibabu excels compared with molecular diagnostics because of increased speed and no blood sampling required, and can detect malaria early compared with microscope

Product
Matibabu is an Application for early, non-invasive malaria diagnosis with a phone and a custom piece of hardware (Matiscope).

Value
Matibabu address malaria disease management by offering cost-effective rapid early diagnosis of malaria which reduces amount of medication, duration of treatment and number of people suffering severe effects of malaria infection. Matibabu offers prompt, accurate diagnosis reducing without painful needle pricks, power challenges, the need for trained personnel, and shortened diagnosis time. It also offers educational tips on prevention and mosquito repellent sound. With potential value of reduced socio-economic costs of the disease for 300-500 million people.

Successes

  • UN empowerment award
  • UN women @microsoft Imagine cup, July 2013
  • Best Project Uganda Local final, Microsoft, April 2013
  • HESN USAID TECHCON 2013 best pitch, USAID, November 2013


Team



Development Stack

  • PHP
  • windows phone C#
  • windows Azure 
  • Android
  • HTML


Contact/Social Media/Job Openings
Twitter: @matibabu8
Facebook: /Matibabu.thinkIT,
Web: www.matibabu.blog.com

August 25, 2014

#DEMOTop40 : Online Hisab Provides SMEs With A Cloud-Based Accounting Package

Online Hisab is a cloud based accounting package for Ethiopian SMEs, who are looking for an affordable and easy to use accounting solution. It enhances and facilitates the SMEs’s financial management without requiring prior accounting knowledge and advanced computer proficiency. Online Hisab runs online and charges an annual nominal subscription fee.

Product
Online Hisab has been developed as a cloud-based accounting package that recognizes SMEs' resource limitation, lack of computer proficiency and accounting skills.It allows the SME's to have a bird's eye view of their books, make quick and easy data entries, create invoices quickly, record payments easily, obtain instant insight of business operations all through unlimited data storage and automatic backups guaranteeing data security and safety. It enhances and facilitates the SME's financial management by easily getting the aggregated sales, monitoring the petty cash and generating financial reports.
Our Accounting Solution is specially formatted to match the Ethiopian context with easy accounting terminology allowing rapid integration into daily operations. Accessed on mobile and desktop platforms both in English and Amharic with easy to use dashboard, bank level security, automatic backups, encryption and unlimited data storage.

Value
Online Hisab enables Businesses overcome challenges associated with financial recording, maximize the use of their funds, focus on their core functions, satisfy their customers and comply with tax regulations while contributing to the nations growth and transformation.

Successes

  • Founders Award and First Runners up in the enterprise category at Pivot East 2014

Team

  • Asmeret Gebre, BSc. in Information Systems and Technology from USIU and Product development Lead
  • Selamawit Tesfahuney, Certified Accountant, Chief Financial Officer
  • 3 more employees

Development Stack
Webserver: Apache
Database: MySQL
Server-Side programming: PHP
Client-Side Programming: HTML, Javascript etc.

Contact/Social Media/Job Openings
https://twitter.com/onlineHisab
https://www.facebook.com/OnlineHisab
www.onlineHisab.com

August 24, 2014

#DEMOTop40 : SpellAfrica Initiative Helps Young Africans Speak Better English

Speaking good English is a critical component to help one communicate effectively. SpellAfrica is a hybrid Education for sustainable development Initiative. We focused on developing unique strategies for the purpose of helping Africa’s youths learn better English skills via mobile devices.

Product
A picture is said to worth a thousand words. This is the driving idea behind our new Edugame, “FotoBulary”.  The app uses eye catching images to inculcate English lessons in the hearts and minds of the player. To get to the end, the payer must get the correct answers to all 50 images.
Without any formal publicity, the mVocabulary product of SpellAfrica attracted well over 50,000 users in less than 12months of launch.  We have received positive responses and feedback messages from users.

Sample mVocabulary
Value
SpellAfrica is a youth led organization born out of passion and dedication for the purpose of assisting young Africans to learn better English skills.

Successes
A university graduate in Benin City, ones argued that it is impossible to learn English using SMS. I picked up my phone and read the mVocabulary word of that day to him. Interesting the word was “Cannibalize”. So I asked him the meaning of the word of the day. With all confident he answered “the eating of human flesh by another human being. "The eating of the flesh of an animal by another animal of its own kind”. He actually thought cannibalism was the same with  cannibalize.


Team
Elvis AUSTINS, Founder/CEO
Since the inception of SpellAfrica Initiative about 4years ago, Elvis has won a number of awards in social entrepreneurship, including the GSBI Online program of Santa Clara University, Social Entrepreneurship Fellowship, Stockholm and Startup generation fellowship in Canada, etc. He is also the winner of the 2014 English online exam scholarship of the IATEFL (International Association of Teachers of English as a Foreign Language). He was recently awarded a Microsoft 4Afrika Scholarship.

Erezi Edoreh, Head of Marketing
Erezi is a gifted and passionate marker, with the ability to sell goods and service by making few statements. Before joining SpelAfrica Initiative, He worked with an American insurance company where he gathered years of experience in marketing. As the head of Marketing Operations, he is in charge of designing marketing strategies for SpellAfria Initiative.

Some of the volunteers and students of the SpellAfrica Initiative

Development Stack
Confidential

Contact/Social Media/Job Openings
Email: info@spellafrica.org
Phone: +2347030240731
Twitter:  @spellafrica
skype: spellafrica

August 23, 2014

#DEMOTop40 : SmartPesa Helps You Make Credit/Debit Card Transactions On Mobile

Following the success of mPesa, many innovative mobile payment solutions are making such transactions less hectic for all people across the continent. SmartPesa enables credit or debit card payments to be taken on a mobile phone, simple as that.

Product
The SmartPesa platform allows a financial institution to quickly and cost-effectively add mobile POS (“mPOS”) to its merchant offerings without needing to modify its existing back-end payment infrastructure or current POS programme.  It has been designed from the ground-up to be secure, scalable and versatile whilst providing greater information to both the financial institution and its customers with its powerful and adaptable merchant platform.

The SmartPesa solution comprises four components:
  1. Transaction processing server than fully integrates with a financial institution’s existing back-end payment infrastructure
  2. Apps (Android, iOS or Windows) and the ability to integrate into existing Apps
  3. Card readers (wide range available and lowest cost)
  4. Merchant information platform

Value
Internationally there is a transition from payments in cash to payments by card for reasons of convenience and security.  This is especially true in emerging markets where annual card growth and card payment growth is 21% and 10% respectively.  Only 38% of payments in emerging markets are in cash versus developed markets at 59%.

Financial institutions have understood this trend and are quickly looking to have mPOS to capture this growth.  Current growth in mPOS is 43% per annum and is expected to constitute almost half of all POS devices by 2019.

SmartPesa specialises in emerging markets, providing an end-to-end platform to quickly extend a financial institution’s POS offering to include mPOS.

Successes
SmartPesa is launching in Rwanda in conjunction with the national switch and will be able to accept payments for all banks in Rwanda.  The solution comprises App, server and merchant services.

Discussions are continuing with a number of financial institutions in Africa, SE Asia and South America.

Barry, Co-founder
Thorsten, Co-founder
Team
Co-founders Barry Levett and Thorsten Neumann.  Android and Java developers

Development Stack
Technologies used in the SmartPesa solution include .Net, SQL Server, Amazon AWS/other virtual server environment (as required by clients), Android, iOS, Java (EMV kernel), SugarCRM, Thales payShield and Postillion PostBridge switch.
Also used in development: Freshdesk, WaveApps, Trello, dapulse, Bitbucket

Contact/Social Media/Job Openings
Email: info@smartpesa.com
Web: www.smartpesa.com
Twitter: @smartpesa
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/transactiontechnologies
Google+: https://plus.google.com/106968534150408363578/videos
Looking for iOS developer

August 21, 2014

#DEMOTop40 : FeedbackPlus Enhances Feedback Between Organizations and Customers

The Company’s name is Consumer Delight Business Services Ltd. Our vision is to help organizations achieve customer satisfaction ‘whatever it takes’, and we want to be held accountable to this standard.

Product
Feedbackplus, is an internet/mobile feedback solution that lets customers give feedback to products and services organizations either via feedbackplus mobile app or feedbackplus.net; and enables organizations to receive, respond to and resolve customers issues, real time, via a dashboard, where they can also access periodic reports with feedback analytic.

Value
To Customers
  • Give feedback free of charge
  • Give feedback anywhere, anytime
  • Get to attach pictures and documents (as evidences) where necessary
  • Monitor feedback status real time (On queue, Receiving Attention, 25% Resolve, 75% Resolved, 100% Resolved, Closed)
  • Get to confirm resolution before issue gets closed
  • Send your feedback as voice message if preferred
  • Reach dozens of organizations with the same app.

To Organizations
  • Receive customers’ feedback ‘on the spot’ when they are experiencing your products and services
  • Monitor your branches/outlets from customers points of view
  • Make Feedback a day-to-day part of your customers habit
  • Stay in touch with any customer that gives feedback before and after resolution
  • Let your employees use their mobile devices to resolve thousands of customers issues anywhere/anytime
  • Access periodic reports and analytics including Trends, Satisfaction, Loyalty, Status etc and various Predictive and Prescriptive analytics
  • Get customization to your own specific needs


Successes
Mobile app now available on Android, iOS, BB10 and BB07 & bellow devices, and the web application is accessible on 95% of desktop and mobile browsers

Team
  • Niyi Falodun  (CEO)
  • Enoch Durotoye (Planning and Marketing)
  • Linda Ebekine, Busola Alabi, Biodun Ajiboye (Business Development)
  • Olaniyi Olorunkosebi – Investor
  • Dotun Sulaimon - Advisor

Development Stack
MySql, PHP, HTML, CSS, JavaScript,

Contact/Social Media/Job Openings
For Inquiries - info@feedbackplus.net
Job Opening - career@feedbackplus.net

August 20, 2014

#DEMOTop40 : Pearl Dream Delivers Educational and Entertainment Content for Children

Product
The Pearl Dream delivers educational and entertainment value to families and schools worldwide through our DreamAfrica app for mobile, web and TV. Our community of authors, artists and partners help us create a future with authentic and timeless African stories for kids around the world, who get unlimited access to ebooks, audio, animations and games on and offline from the world’s largest digital collection of African stories.

Value
We launched The Pearl Dream, Inc. with a vision to deliver authentic African experiences to millions of people worldwide, on and offline. Our users appreciate the unlimited access to the world’s largest digital collection of African stories for kids through our DreamAfrica app for mobile, web and TV.

Successes

Team
Franco Abott, CEO
Kenyan-born Franco Eugene Abott is the CEO and co-founder of The Pearl Dream®. He graduated from Lafayette College with a degree in Computer Science and presently works as a Senior Project Software Engineer at Lutron Electronics.
FB| LinkedIn

Brian Asingia, COO
Ugandan-born Brian Asingia is the COO and co-founder of The Pearl Dream®. He graduated from Lafayette College in 2012 with dual qualification in Engineering and Economics. He also works for the New York Stock Exchange. An alumnus of United World College USA and International House NYC, he is a global citizen.

Development Stack
Our wordpress website is hosted on Azure. We use YUDU, a mobile publishing platform, to deliver our stories on iOS and Android. We plan to launch on TV soon.

Contact/Social Media/Job Openings
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ThePearlDreamInc
Twitter https://twitter.com/thepearldream
The Pearl Dream on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/company/the-pearl-dream-inc
DreamAfrica on Android

DreamAfrica on iOS

August 19, 2014

Kirusa Acquires Ghana's Mobiile Messaging Platform, Saya Mobile

PRESS RELEASE (source: http://www.kirusa.com/media-news/press-release/2014/20140819)

-- BEGIN --

Voice Messaging and Social Media Innovator Kirusa has acquired the technology, workforce and intellectual property of Saya 

New Providence, NJ and Accra, Ghana, Tuesday, 19th August, 2014 —Kirusa, the leader in voice messaging and social media mobile apps in emerging markets, today announced that it has acquired Saya Mobile, a Ghana-based provider of instant messaging apps geared specifically for African consumers.Representative of the company’s increasing commitment to the region, this acquisition enhances Kirusa’s expertise and the reach of its InstaVoice mobile app across the African continent. As per the deal, Kirusa has acquired the technology, intellectual property, and workforce of Saya, which will now be working on Kirusa’s mobile applications.

“Africa remains a top priority for our business,” says Inderpal Singh Mumick, CEO of Kirusa. “While there has been astonishing progress of the mobile industry, the biggest impact of mobile in Africa is yet to come. We believe there are advantages to building products specifically for this region and have made the strategic decision to acquire Saya in line with that thinking. Since its inception, Saya has focused on delivering compelling messaging applications that enhance the mobile user experience and are tailored to the mobile consumers in emerging markets, and more specifically, in Africa.”

Founded in 2011, Saya has received wide exposure for its real-time “Street Chat” messaging application.  Based on highly scalable backend architecture, Saya’s platform includes social network integration, location-based and group chat across multiple phone platforms including J2ME, Android and iOS.

“In launching Saya, we wanted to create a world class product but that was made by Africans, for Africans,” says Robert Lamptey, CEO of Saya. “Joining forces with Kirusa is a natural and exciting next step for our team. We remain focused on our goal of placing this technology into the hands of and empowering millions of mobile subscribers. We look forward to realizing this vision together with Kirusa.”

“It was a true pleasure working with Kirusa on the acquisition. The professionalism and understanding displayed by their team during this process has been exceptional. Having known Kirusa’s management for years and supported Saya since its launch, MEST couldn’t be more supportive of Saya becoming a part of a company led by such industry visionaries”, says Neal Hansch, Managing Director of the MEST Incubator program in West Africa.

 “We are thrilled to have Saya’s talented team join Kirusa,” says Mumick. “Robert’s vision for mobile-first solutions in emerging markets matches that of our company and we believe this collaboration will continue to foster more creativity and innovation for the benefit of our customers.”

About Kirusa
Kirusa is the leader in voice messaging and social media mobile apps that enable mobile subscribers to “Have a Voice!” and share their stories with their family and friends across the globe.  Kirusa’s solutions include InstaVoice®, Celeb Connect™ and Sports Connect™ apps, which are offered in partnership with more than thirty-five mobile carriers in Africa, India, LatAm, and Middle East, as well as via the app stores, and are used monthly by over 80 million mobile users in four continents.  Kirusa solutions are built on its patented technology, and its highly reliable and scalable multimodal and cloud platforms, which process over one billion events a month. Kirusa has been recognized as one of top 20 most promising technology companies by Silicon India, and one of top 25 emerging technology companies by Smart Techie magazine. The InstaVoice app won first prize at NJTC Mobile Apps Forum.  Headquartered in New Jersey and led by an experienced team of wireless telecom executives and technologists, Kirusa has offices in four continents. InstaVoice is a US registered trademark of Kirusa, Inc.

For more information, visit: www.kirusa.com

About Saya Mobile
Saya is a mobile messaging company with services that cater to high-growth mobile markets worldwide. It’s application has brought cheap mobile messaging to people who do not have smartphones in emerging economies. Saya Messenger is used in over 35 countries worldwide with Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, India, and Indonesia being it’s biggest markets. Saya Messenger cuts the cost of messaging for people in these markets by over a 1000 times allowing the people that need cheap messaging to enjoy it. Saya’s  Streetchat feature which groups people in the same location into a chatroom was used by feature phone users during the Syrian and Egyptian uprising for communication. The company was a TechCrunch Disrupt finalist in 2012 and has gone on to win other awards both locally and internationally. Saya was founded by Robert Lamptey and Badu Boahen, both graduates of the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST), a program that provides training, investment and mentoring for aspiring technology entrepreneurs in Africa. Saya’s investors include the Meltwater Foundation, Forward Partners and Progress through Business.

For more information, visit: www.saya.im

For further queries, please contact

For Kirusa
Alchemy Corporate Communications
Anju Makin
India Tel: +91-9810170135
USA Tel: +1-973-536-2652
E-mail: anju_makin@alchemycc.com

-- END --

#DEMOTop40 : Telecosys Transforms Business Assurance Services With VeriSure


Telecosys has been founded this year with a group of entrepreneurs with solid experience in Telecom. With a major focus on Business Assurance problems in Telecom, Telecosys has started its journey with the aim to provide Telecom industry with  new innovative software solutions in the different domains.

Product
Telecosys is delivering VeriSure; a new innovative software solution aiming at transforming the Business Assurance solutions into automated and real-time solutions.Unlike other products in the market,  VeriSure solves the Revenue Leakage and Customer Experience problems at a Telecom operator in a real-time proactive manner, saving the operator millions of dollars loss and protecting the operator’s customer base from churn.

Value
  • VeriSure saves 0.55% to 5.5% of operator’s revenue (millions, if not hundreds of millions of dollars) from leakage and loss.
  • VeriSure kills 32% of customer churn at a Telecom Operator.

Successes
The product has made it to the Top 40 List of the DEMO Africa event in Nigeria.

Team
Shady Hatem, CEO
Shady has more than six years of experience in software development and five years of Telecom experience in multinational giant operators with focus on billing, service fulfillment, and revenue assurance. After receiving a business degree from Maastricht Business School, Shady has decided to start his own company in the same domain of his expertise.

Mohamed Esmat, Business Development Director
Mohamed has more than 10 years of overall experience in the software industry, seven years in Telecom delivering projects for national and international markets (Germany and UK).He also has more than two years of hands-on experience in new product development from idea to market Mohamed is originally a computer science graduate with an executive masters degree in business.

Moataz Tarek, Software Developer
Moataz is a computer science graduate with more than three years of experience in software development and Business Intelligence.

Development Stack
Cannot share the development stack for confidentiality purpose, however we can share high level diagram demonstrating how VeriSure plugs into a Telecom operator’s environment like the one below:


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