Denis Opudo
The urge to change the world has led to upcoming of many startups in the recent past. Several startups have received mixed reactions and some have managed to get breakthroughs. On the other hand, others have failed to attain their targets. But have you ever asked yourself the question why the mixed reception? If yes then you will agree with us that support and the ideas are very vital to any given startup.
SXSW Accelerator Pitch Event organizers scheduled it to take place in Texas betweenMarch 10 and 11, 2018. The event brings together the leading edge startups from across the world. The startups will parade before industry experts during the event. There are also high-profile media and venture capitalists ready to listen to their ideas. The 2018 event has seen two African startups selected out of 50 finalists. The two will also compete for a trophy and a prize worth $4,000 in cash.
There will be a total of ten categories to be vied for by the 50 finalists. Augmented and virtual reality, sports and performance, hyper-connected communities, and social and culture are amongst the ten categories. There are also transportation, enterprise and smart data, health and wearable and payment and Fintech. Entertainment and content and security and privacy make up complete the list. Each category will produce one winner who will bag $4,000 and a trophy. The two African startups that have made it to the finals are GoTech found in Rwanda and DRC and Pawame from Kenya.
GoTech helps in solving fire problems. It does that through designing and implementing solutions to the local people. Pawame offers clean, reliable and affordable solar solutions to the rural areas. Moreover, payments are made through mobile money after getting the power. The mobile money is for developing credit profiles for customers. This helps in the distribution of more financial services.
