Today mHub hosted the first-ever city spark for Sahara Sparks, East Africa’s largest Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship event. Lilongwe Sparks event was opened by the CEO of Sahara Ventures Jumanne Mtambalike, who are the organisers of Sahara Sparks, who gave a background about Sahara Sparks as an avenue for discussion around technological trends and the use of technology to impact the community and drive positive changes. The event also provides a platform for African startups to pitch and showcase their products to investors and potential partners.
At the Lilongwe Sparks event, 12 startups were given three minutes each to pitch their business ideas. The judging panel selected the five best pitches based on whether they were addressing real issues, how viable their business model was, their potential to scale and the strength of their team. The ideas also had to be innovative. Of the five startups selected, two will be selected to attend the 2018 Sahara Sparks and AfriLabs Annual Gathering slated for October 11th – 13th in Dar es Salaam in Tanzania. the theme of the event is “Innovation in the Data Age”.
Talent on display
As usual, there was no shortage of talent on display. The five pitches that won were Owinna sports mobile app by Soyapi Mumba, village banking application Khusa by Angle Dimension, renewable energy company Green Impact Technology, Tech Lab by Remy Gakwaya and Kambeu Organic Fertilizer.
Green Impact Technologies is a social enterprise which deploys energy mechanisms to combat energy poverty for the people in Malawi, using biogas and solar system, just to mention a few.
Angle Dimension is a fintech and insuretech startup which provides the financial inclusion and integration platform for banks in Malawi. They are working with FDH to integrate their products.
Owinna.com is a sports platform providing sports results and analysis.
Tech Lab is an initiative from Dowa to provide digital learning resources to schools through offline networks.
Kambeu Organic Fertiliser manufactures organic fertiliser in Kasungu at costs affordable to the majority of the masses.
Registration for the 2018 Sahara Sparks & AfriLabs Annual Gathering event is live on this website!
*Pictures courtesy of mHub and Sahara Sparks
