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Startups from South Africa, Nigeria and Angola have been named among the 27 global finalists for Chivas Regal’s The Venture competition, and will now compete for a share of US$1 million in funding.

Disrupt Africa reported in October last year Chivas Regal had extended The Venture – which was already open to startups in Angola and South Africa as well as a host of other countries across the world – to Nigeria.

One Nigerian startup, agricultural production and processing company FreshDirect, has duly made it into the final, alongside Angolan company Habitec, which uses eucalyptus trees to produce desks, chairs and other wooden fittings for schools.

African tech startups are represented by South Africa’s CrashDetech, a smartphone application that automatically detects a serious car crash, pinpoints location, immediately dispatches the nearest ambulance and supplies paramedics with lifesaving information.

South African startups have form in The Venture, with fire detection startup Lumkani – which sells early warning fire detection systems for informal settlements – winning US$75,000 at last year’s competition.

The 27 finalists will now take part in an accelerator week, at the end of which US$20,000 will be distributed among them after a public vote. Finalists will then pitch at an event in July for a share of the remaining US$750,000 prize money.

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