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The five winning startups from last year’s DEMO Africa event in Johannesburg are this week taking part in the Lions@frica Innovation Tour in Silicon Valley, where they will connect with the local ecosystem and pitch to investors.

Three South African startups – video health consultation platform ConnectMed, on-demand TV and internet device MediaBox, and email organiser Sortd – as well as Nigerian energy company Solstice HES and Kenyan solar firm Strauss Energy were named DEMO Africa winners in August.

They are now in Silicon Valley for the Startup Grind Conference, where they will compete alongside local technology startups and engage with the ecosystem through a series of curated events and activities.

“After emerging as winners from an application pool of over 600 startups on the continent, we are eager to ensure that these five companies successfully assume an ambassadorial role for African innovation,” said Stephen Ozoigbo, managing partner of Lions@frica.

“They are re-inventing Africa’s future, and we are supporting their strategic actions to increase their likelihood of success”.

The startups have been prepared for the tour through a series of learning activities over a two-month virtual bootcamp.

The Lions@frica Innovation Tour, organised by the African Technology Foundation, focuses on knowledge sharing with leading Silicon Valley stakeholders and networking opportunities that will yield engagements between African startups and target partners in the US.

Since the inaugural edition in 2013, 25 African startups have benefited from the programme, which seeks to bridge knowledge gaps and enable African technology startups to showcase their innovations.

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