[kictanet] Top brains to entice global investors

Mon Sep 17 20:43:08 EAT 2012

Hi Agosta,

Francis, Liko and Ali

DEMO is a launch pad for new technologies and startups, its not a
competition. The only competitive aspect of DEMO is to get to the DEMO
Stage. In the last four months we have engaged with innovators from
across the continent with the objective of taking their innovation from
just that to real
business, that is sustainable and that will take them to the next level.
Different innovators need/require different inputs to take them to the next
level, some need capitalization others are looking for go to market
opportunities, publicity while other are just looking for strategic
partnerships. So it not correct to assume that very
startup is looking for investment in money terms.

What DEMO provides is the push for a product launch. For a startup to
launch at DEMO
you must have a new, innovative product that solves a real problem. This
partly answers Francis' question. DEMO does not look at innovation for
innovation's sake, there has
to be a real problem that innovation is solving and a business model to
boot.

Ability to scale is also a big consideration given that investors will be
putting money
and expect a return on their investment. On investors, our work on this
space has shown us that there is mis-match of
expectations. Local developers and innovators are looking for investors
from Silicon Valley, while investors in Sillicon
Valley have no visibility of the local investment opportunity. To this we
have been engaging local investors through the
DEMO Africa Roundtable Workshops and the interest can only be described as
amazing. This is a group that has in the
past been ignored yet they have the capacity to invest and take most of the
startups to the next level, but only if the engagement makes sense to them.

Who are the investors? We are engaging different players – both local and
international. At the Nairobi Investor Meeting which we had investors who
are managing funds in excess of $11m and have invested in companies like
Cellulant, Software Technologies and Kencall; in Nigeria end of
this week we have a plethora of investors who are very active in the tech
space and ditto for South Africa at the Demo Investors roundtable which
happens there in a couple of weeks.

We are engaging all these investors aswell as those who are stilltied up
with legacy investments (property) so that we can give the startups with
the highest potential of
success that extra push to succeed.

Hope you will be there to see Afric's best!

cell: +254715964281
On Sep 17, 2012 4:24 PM, "Agosta Liko" <agostal at gmail.com> wrote:

> Spoke to Harry about this
>
> who are the investors ?
>
> which are their investments ?
>
> Thanks
>
> On Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 3:45 PM, Ali Hussein <ali at hussein.me.ke> wrote:
>
>> +1 Francis.
>>
>> Infact my understanding is that Demo Africa is just that. This isn't
>> about judging for competition's sake. The 'judges' are investors and
>> companies looking for new products and services that already have traction
>> or have a huge potential for traction.
>>
>> The last few years have been good for awareness and we have gained a
>> reputation as an innovation hub. However the pipeline now needs to move
>> towards actualizing these ideas into viable, bankable business models.
>>
>> Demo Africa seeks to fill part of the gap.
>>
>> Harry/Brian, hope I haven't put my foot in my mouth...
>>
>> Ali Hussein
>>
>> On Mon, Sep 17, 2012 at 1:51 PM, Francis Hook <francis.hook at gmail.com>wrote:
>>
>>> I am keen to know to what extent innovators will leverage OSS as they
>>> make their pitches.
>>>
>>> I hope we will not see technology for technology's sake kind of
>>> innovations.   We've seen some very sexy ideas develop over the years
>>> but they do not really solve real problems or are very hard to
>>> monetise.
>>>
>>> It would also be nice if we could hear of experiences of local
>>> developers/innovators in terms of getting funding for their start ups,
>>> how their ideas get an audience (and what reactions they get) etc.   I
>>> gather there is a degree of wariness when it comes to showcasing ideas
>>> and the fear that players with big pockets will take it and run with
>>> it  (because they can afford to) or shoot it down because it could
>>> disrupt existing business models (e.g.  cross network shared mobile
>>> money platforms...).
>>>
>>> We've also heard that techies are just that - and have bright ideas
>>> but are not good sales people or any good in biz devt.   To what
>>> extent does DEMO address this issue?
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> On 17 September 2012 00:47, Grace Githaiga <ggithaiga at hotmail.com>
>>> wrote:
>>> > IN SUMMARY
>>> >
>>> > Demo Africa director Harry Hare said the event, the first to be held in
>>> > Africa, presents a good chance for local innovators to move their
>>> businesses
>>> > to the next level.
>>> > Over the last five years, innovators at DEMO US have received about
>>> Sh297
>>> > billion in business capital.
>>> > Microsoft, which is sponsoring the event together with Nokia and other
>>> > multinationals, said that the partnership is one of the best
>>> activities they
>>> > have done because it will help accelerate success of entrepreneurs and
>>> > start-ups in Africa.
>>> >
>>> http://www.nation.co.ke/business/news/Top+brains+to+entice+global+investors/-/1006/1509036/-/ntbwhpz/-/index.html
>>> >
>>> >
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>>>
>>> --
>>> Francis Hook
>>> +254 733 504561
>>>
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>>>
>>>
>>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>>
>>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
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>>
>>
>>
>> --
>>
>> *Ali Hussein*
>>
>>
>>
>> Twitter: @AliHKassim
>>
>> Skype: abu-jomo
>>
>>
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>> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
>> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
>> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
>> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>>
>> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
>> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
>> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
>> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>>
>
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> The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform
> for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and
> regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT
> sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
>
> KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors
> online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth,
> share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do
> not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
>
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