TechCrunch Startup Battlefield Africa 2018 is here! And guess what? It’s being sponsored by Facebook in Lagos, Nigeria.
What is the TechCrunch event about? Simple. The TechCrunch Startup Battlefield Africa is a platform that celebrates African founders and entrepreneurs. Startups compete across three categories: social good; productivity and utility; and gaming and entertainment. It profiles the founders and entrepreneurs leading Africa’s next wave of technology innovation and highlights new ideas, businesses and applications with disruptive potential. Cool, right?
This is the second version of the event in Africa. In fact, according to Facebook’s Head of Developer Programs, Emeka Afigbo, the inaugural event in 2017 was so successful Facebook has decided to return as the headline sponsor this year. “Given our passion for connecting people and helping developers and entrepreneurs to thrive, we can’t wait to see how this year’s entrants are using technology to engage and empower people across the continent,” he added.
As a prelude to the event, Facebook has a lineup of activities which started on the 6th of December with a Developer Circle Leads Summit and Instagram Inspire Action Lagos – Women and Small Business Event. On the 8th of December, Facebook with Developer Circle Nigeria hosted the Startups and Developers Summit 2018. Today, Facebook is hosting a Digital Pitch Competition and a NG_Hub Start-up Mixer.
On the 11th of December, the TechCrunch Startup Battlefield takes place. Here, startups in Africa will pitch to a live audience of 500 people ranging from VCs, investors, Government officials, developers and startups. Phew! Good luck to all participants! On that same day, there’ll be a Student Hack which gives 50 high school students from Lagos the platform to continue their education and participation in computer science with a Hack-a-Day and other activities that will highlight the impact developers can make in the world using computer science skills.
It’s great to see the steps Facebook is taking to grow Africa’s technology startup ecosystem. Kudos to Facebook and good luck to all participants!
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