Nigerian-founded early-stage VC firm, EchoVC and Africa-focused venture capital company, Atlantica Ventures have partnered with global innovation startup competition, Extreme Tech Challenge (XTC) to select three qualified startups from Africa to participate in the 2021 global XTC event.
The competition is both sector and stage-agnostic, hence, Africa-focused as well as African-founded startups at any stage are welcome to register.
This collaboration will make it the first time that African startups will be represented in the XTC competition. In 2020, XTC got 52 finalists solving problems with technology from different countries around the world.
Ik Kanu and Aniko Szigetvari who are Founding Partners at Atlantica Ventures, and Aima Nwafor-Ohiwerei, Senior Analyst, Research and Portfolio Manager at EchoVC explain each establishment's role in this partnership.
First is to make sure many African entrepreneurs are aware of the opportunities this competition presents. Secondly, they will be responsible for collating applications to choose 10 qualified startups.
Representatives from these two VC companies and other corporations, including IFC and Total will sit on the selection board to choose the three finalists that will make it to the competition. They will also provide mentorship for them to refine their pitch before the competition.
Meanwhile, selection processes are also going on in other regions like Latin America, Sydney, Japan, India, Indonesia, Mexico, and Jerusalem in collaboration with companies like Ford, Samsung, Microsoft, Cisco, Zoom, among others.
The competition accepts startups in agritech, fintech, smart cities, edtech, cleantech, healthtech, mobility/ logistics, and enabling technologies.
Interested founders can register here.
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For this stage, the application is already open and will close on April 2. The next stage where 10 startups will be selected is on April 16, while the final three will be chosen on April 23 ahead of the main event which will be held virtually during the Summer.
XTC is a non-profit organization that partners with VCs and corporations around the world to support and fund early-stage startups and expose them to funding, mentorship and training on a global scale, exposure, and collaboration.
Since its inception, Atlantica Venture has invested in eight African startups including Paystack, One Pipe, Curacel, Bento, Sendy, and Tizeti.
Founded by Eghosa Omoigui in 2011, EchoVC now has presence in 12 countries within and outside Africa and has invested over $41 million in startups including unannounced rounds.
For further details about the competition, visit the XTC website.
Featured image credits: AlphaGamma.eu
