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The DEMO Africa 2016 Innovation Tours begin this week in Nairobi, Kenya and Kampala, Uganda, seeking startups to take place in the pan-African pitching event in South Africa in August.

DEMO Africa, which began life in Nairobi, Kenya and has taken place in Lagos, Nigeria for the last two years, will take place in Johannesburg for the first time in August.

Last year’s edition of the event – organised by LIONS@FRICA – saw 30 startups pitch their businesses in front of an audience of investors, with five selected to pitch at the prestigious DEMO Fall event in Silicon Valley.

As a precursor to the main event, the DEMO Africa Innovation Tours begin this week in East Africa, with events hosted in Nairobi tomorrow (May 10) and Kampala on May 13. Further events will take place in Nigeria on May 18, Ghana on May 20, Egypt on May 31 and Ivory Coast on June 2, while the dates for Zimbabwe and South Africa events are yet to be confirmed.

“This tour will bring together startups, innovators and technology industry players to look at ways through which innovations can be turned into business ventures. Entrepreneurs from East Africa will get a chance to pitch to a panel of highly placed individuals in the tech sector,” DEMO Africa said.

The event organisers said the ultimate qualification to pitch at the event is the ability of the innovation to change or impact the marketplace into which it is introduced, or create a new market.

Products must also solve a commercial problem, have a business plan and a management team capable of delivering the product to market, and be a registered company.

Startups can apply here to pitch at the event, with a panel of judges comprising of key players in the ICT sector to settle on the best 30 startups to launch at the main DEMO Africa forum.

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