Cape Town – Africa Rena Johannesburg Fintech at the Deep Tech & Enterprise Summit, held at the age of 22 in Sloan, celebrated South Africa's top startups and awarded five outstanding companies with innovative solutions.
Hosted in collaboration with AWS startups, 22 at Sloan, the event brought together global investors, industry leaders and growing startups for a day of pitching, networking and collaboration.
The atmosphere was electricity and the main room was full of energy and excitement.
Despite the rattling rain on the rooftops in addition to Acoustics, the business developers of Theentai Pasipamire, The Rensich in Africa Center, held their status as event ritual masters.
His delightful charismatic energy appealed to audiences, gathered around startups to support them, and showed what happens when a strong, resilient ecosystem supports each other and supports each other.
Carmen Rossouw, Sloan and GEC+ Africa's 22 executive operations leader, said:
Excited by the outcome of the summit, Rosseau said:
“This summit serves as a key platform for startups to showcase their solutions, connect with investors and access opportunities that can drive growth.
“By filling the gap between talent and fundraising, we are collectively shaping the future where African entrepreneurs lead on the global stage.”
“We're committed to providing a range of services to our customers,” said Dan Mabbyalas, Africanise Director and Head of Products and Programs at Africanèrena.
“This is a powerful indicator that we can do when the African high-tech ecosystem backs up, invests, leads Africa-led, high-quality, established tech startups, pioneering groundbreaking technology solutions that can transform lives across Africa and the world.
“Given the quality of the contract, we are excited about the rest of the Africarena Tour 2025 circuit to bring African high-tech stories to the world.”
Each of the 16 startups has introduced weapons of versatile skills, ranging from strong pitching skills to concise storytelling, incredible pitch decks and excellent knowledge of that number, making the review process difficult for some judges.
In the end, five clear winners were announced.
Best Deep Tech & AI Startup Award: CureRoot (Njabulo Skhosana, Founder, South Africa) Best Fintech Startup Award: Equb (Alexander Hizikias, Ethiopia) Best SaaS Startup Award: Funti3r (Wisani Hlangwane, Founder, South Africa) agnostic Awartup actress (Imtiyaz reyaz Entrepreneur Award: SB Card (Micaelyn Maharaj, South Africa)
Each recipient has qualified for up to USD 25,000 on AWS Active Credits and automatically advanced to the grand finale at the African Lana Grand Summit in Cape Town, South Africa in December.
CureRoot founder Njabulo Skhosana is excited to be recognized as South Africa's best Tech & AI startup.
“This victory will boost our team a great boost to our mission to leverage Africa's biodiversity to solve global health issues.
“This is my first pitching at Africane and I was really impressed with the energy and quality of the startups involved.
“We are grateful for this recognition and look forward to the connection that this opens.”
Equb founder Alexander Hizikias shared his happiness in being recognized as the best fintech startup.
“The award will certainly strengthen our efforts to build comprehensive access to finance that could benefit millions of Ethiopians and Africans as a whole,” Hijikias said.
“We also have the Ethiopian ecosystem on the map, so it is wonderful to see it recognized by representatives of respected ecosystems such as Africarena.
“We have been selling around the world for several years, and it is our first time at Africane.
“It's certainly going to bring in more collaborations.”
Wisani Hlangwane, founder of Funti3r, is keen to win the best SaaS startup award.
“This award will increase momentum to dominate other parts of Africa and do our best to control the global market.
“It was my first pitching at Africarena, but it worked,” said Imtiyaaz Riley, founder of Loop.
“It's great to have a proper look on us. This motivates us to maintain our winning streak, hit milestones, generate more revenue, continue building, and reach the growth stage at the highest possible level.”
“Warning the Best Agnostic Award at Africarena is an important milestone for the Loop.
“It reaffirms our vision and highlights the impact of solutions in the digitalization of mobility and payments across Africa.”
Riley, who was exhilarated by the award, said:
Africarena provided an incredible platform. This was my first pitching at Africane, and the experience was exceptional. I'm excited to pitch it to my next leg in Cape Town in December. ”
SB Card founder Micaelyn Maharaj is excited to walk with the most promising Entrepreneur Award.
“It's further verified that we are on the right track and we are building something worth it.
“We really appreciate the platform, support and belief in our company.
“This victory gives us the courage to move forward and continue to dream.”
The second round of the Africarena Tour 2025 Circuit will be held on April 30th, 2025 in Lagos, Nigeria.
Get tickets for Africarena Lagos Fintech, Mobility & Logistics Summit.
