40 DEMO Africa Start-ups Seek $60m in Growth Capital

There will be 40 start-up companies that will launch at the inaugural DEMO Africa conference next week (October 24^th – 26^th) a The Start-ups will use the event as a launch pad for futuristic technologies. They will be looking to raise over $ 60m in capital to grow their ideas.

Kenya will be the first host of DEMO in Africa 21 years after its inception in USA. The event is a platform which brings together the most innovative companies from across the world and DEMO Africa will be targeting such small companies in the continent. The platform also attracts a good attention from leading leading local and international investors who have an interest in investing in the next generation start-ups.

The 40 start-ups extend across five core categories, including consumer technology, mobile technology, enterprise technology, cloud services and social media.

Commenting on the upcoming event, DEMO Africa Director, Harry Hare said;

“Cumulatively, the nominees are looking to raise over $66,280,000. This event firmly demonstrates that Africa is the next frontier on all economic facets. We are seeing a renewed energy even in the invention of technological infrastructure, initiatives that we are keen to nurture.” 

According to 2009 DEMO demonstrator research study conducted by BluePoint Ventures, in the past 20 years, 22% of past demonstrators received funding within 60 days as a direct result of a DEMO launch. 92% who secured funding, did so within 9 months of DEMO, whereas 62% received over $1 million in funding – mostly from venture capital funds and angel investors.

Harry added;

“We have seen unprecedented acquisition with the global chapter where more than 50 demonstrating companies were acquired in the last four years alone. Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Motorola, Symantec, HP, SAP and Yahoo! have all been to DEMO more than once, acquiring multiple DEMO companies. ”  

Harry added that in just the past five years, DEMO companies have raised over $4.5 billion dollars in the months/years following their debut at DEMO.