GITEX AFRICA Supernova Challenge

USD $100,000 was awarded to 5 category winners ($10,000 each) as well as one overall winner ($50,000).

INTRODUCING CREATIVE ECONOMY CATEGORY TO 2024 EDITION AND SPECIAL MENTIONS

GITEX AFRICA Supernova Challenge: AFRICA Edition Categories 2024

The winner’s product or service is in incident response, security protocol implementation to mitigate cyber threats, cyberattacks and data breaches across the sectors of BFSI, telecommunications and government.

The winner is redefining AFRICA's public digital landscape, ensuring a brighter, more digitally inclusive future. The startup’s product or service explores the limitless possibilities of generative AI and showcases how the technology can drive growth and development across the continent.

The winner is a fintech startup transforming the financial landscape in AFRICA, from mobile money to blockchain-based platforms.

The winner is leveraging cutting-edge technologies such as AI, wearables, and telemedicine to revolutionize healthcare delivery and improve patient outcomes.

SUSTAINABILITY AND AGRITECH

The winner is utilizing technology to solve social challenges including energy and environmental fields, or showcasing a product or service in tech-enabled sustainable development.

OVERALL GITEX AFRICA SUPERNOVA CHAMPION - $50,000

The winner will be based on the most innovative, creative and groundbreaking idea of all startups pitching at the GITEX AFRICA Supernova Challenge.

SPECIAL MENTION: YOUNG CEO AWARD

Recognizing an entrepreneur within the age range of 15-35 building a product or service solving for one of the world’s most pressing challenges and digital transformation.

SPECIAL MENTION: WOMEN IN TECH AWARD

Recognizing a women-led startup building a product or service with high potential for global expansion. The startup has a female founder with a minimum of 50% ownership in the business and is an active Senior Executive.

PITCH COMPETITION TIMELINE

Application Deadline

1 May

Semi-Finalists Announced

8 May

Pitch Prep Virtual Session

15 May

Semi-Finals Pitch Competition Begins

29 May

Finals Pitch Competition and Winner Announced

31 May

 

2023 GITEX AFRICA SUPERNOVA CHALLENGE A RESOUNDING SUCCESS

The GITEX AFRICA supernova challenge, hosted in Morocco on the 1st edition of GITEX AFRICA, saw 6 winner from across Africa and the globe crowned in 5 separate categories along with the overall winner.

Over 3 days dozens of startups pitched their unique ideas to a superstar panel of judges to decide who would go into the finals on the 3rd and final day on June 2nd, 2023.

With a total prize pool of $100,000, this was Africa’s largest ever startup pitch competition.

 

PROXGY LTD WIN THE OVERALL SUPERNOVA CHAMPION PRIZE

The winners of the overall prize Proxgy Ltd, from India.

At Proxgy, we are dedicated to making a positive impact on the lives of blue-collar workers by providing innovative and practical IoT-based solutions. We understand the importance of safety and efficiency in the workplace, and our mission is to create smart wearables and safety products that can make a meaningful difference.

 

DIGITAL FINANCE AND BLOCKCHAIN – USD 10,000 – NEARPAY TECHNOLOGIES, NIGERIA

Nearpays is a Digital Finance company at the forefront of digital payment solutions for brick-andmortar businesses, offering innovative financial technology services.

Healthtech – USD 10,000 – Promedius, South Korea

Promedius is a MedTech startup, based in Seoul, Korea, focusing on optimizing radiologists workflow of medical imaging interpretation to drive improved patient outcomes. Our platform, AIdant, is providing an AI-enabled medical imaging cloud solution for individual doctors, medical institutions, and teleradiology centers.

Sustainability and Agritech – USD 10,000 – YolaFresh, Morocco

A Mix of Supply Chain, Data and Tech Our solution is built on creating deep value for the entire supply chain stakeholders - from farmers, to retailers, and benefiting end consumers in the process.

CYBERSECURITY – USD 10,000 – NUCLEAON SECURITY, FRANCE

Nucleon EDR platform allows an extremely precise vision on your endpoints as well as their activities. A unique platform to detect attacks, respond effectively, and quickly remediate to security incidents.

AI AND DIGITAL CITIES – USD 10,000 – MEANIFY, MOROCCO

MEANIFY A platform that helps enterprises benefit from readyto-use NLP solutions for Arabic Dialects, both for written text and spoken word.

MSCAN UGANDA

Serves pregnant mothers through extending and enhancing low cost mobile ultrasound devices for low resource regions through innovation and integrity.

 

WHAT IS THE GITEX AFRICA SUPERNOVA CHALLENGE PITCH COMPETITION?

The GITEX AFRICA Supernova Challenge will be biggest pitch competition in AFRICA, and your opportunity to become the next unicorn!

With $100,000 total cash prize up for grabs, the GITEX AFRICA Supernova Challenge is the most anticipated pitch competition for entrepreneurs displaying groundbreaking innovations and highlighting their value in front of the world.

WHO CAN APPLY, AND HOW?

To enter the GITEX AFRICA Supernova Pitch competition, you will need to be one of the exhibiting startups attending GITEX AFRICA, 29 -31 May 2024. The startups that apply for the competition will then be required to pitch their ideas, with the semi finalists being announced closer to the time of the event.

To become an exhibitor and to apply to the GITEX AFRICA Supernova Pitch Competition, follow the button below and fill out the form so that one of our team members can contact you directly.

 

HEAR FROM THE 2023 SEMI – FINALISTS

FAQs

Overall GITEX AFRICA Supernova Champion: $50,000 cash prize to selected overall winner Winner per Category: $10,000 cash prize to selected winner per category

The team will be in touch regarding your cash prize and next steps 1 week after GITEX Africa 2024.

If you are not shortlisted, there are many opportunities to engage with investors and the wider GITEX Africa audience. We will be keeping a waitlist in case of any last-minute changes. Please note that we receive hundreds of applications per category and the shortlisting goes through multiple rounds of review to reach only a final 10 for the semi-finals and 2 for the finals.

To enter the GITEX AFRICA Supernova competition, you must be an Exhibiting Startup. If you are not, please contact GitexAfricaSales@dwtc.com

Step 1: Login in to the Exhibitor Portal with your personal login details. If you lost this, please email Gitex.Admin@dwtc.com

Step 2: Go to the “Marketing Zone” section from the top bar and navigate to the “Participate in GITEX AFRICA Supernova Challenge” form section on the left side of the menu

Step 3: Fill in the questions and uploads and click submit

The deadline to submit on the Exhibitor Portal is 1 May , 2024 by Morocco Midnight time. Any date changes will be announced.

Your Pitch Deck must be in ENGLISH.

Here are two good references for you:
https://slidebean.com/blog/pitch-deck-structure

Your Pitch Video must be ONLY 60 Seconds or it will not be considered.
We recommend to submit your Pitch Video in English.
Please shoot your Video to have a clear shot of your upper body (sitting or standing).
If your Pitch Video is in French, please include English subtitles.
Please submit your video by either a YouTube or a Vimeo URL.

Check out Paul Graham’s advice on story telling when pitching. Reference form Y Combinator Startup Library: “Your goal, and your only goal, is to make investors feel it’s not safe to cross you off. And there is a verb for convincing someone that something is not safe. It sounds dramatic, but your goal is to frighten them. What frightens them? The possibility that you might become really big. They know there are maybe a few companies that will become really big….Before you start meeting investors, put together a rough draft of your fundraising vertebrae. These are the 3-4 points that compromise the narrative of why your company will be really big. Together, if investors believed in any of these points, they’d be afraid not to bet on you. As you do, keep in mind that there is an important distinction between what the business is and how you tell the story of what your business is. Your conversations with investors should influence the latter, not the former. No investor knows your business as well as you do.”

The announcements of the shortlisted startups for the semi-finals will be done by May 8th, 2024 by Morocco Midnight time. Any date changes will be announced.

The general judging criteria is broken down to main areas. Please keep these in mind as you design your pitch deck, pitch video, and semi-finals, finals pitches!

  • Idea: How innovative is this idea?
  • Market Opportunity: Market Size, Competition, Scalability
  • Business Model: Revenue Model, Pricing, Target Customers
  • Traction: Any revenue, customers, investors?
  • Team: Is a skilled team in place for the startup’s success?

Judges will also be considering your years of operation and funding stage when evaluating.

The judging panels for all categories of GITEX AFRICA Supernova will be experts in the respective sectors and will be a diverse panel with investment, commercial, and entrepreneurial background in the sector.

10 Startups selected per category.

3 Minute Pitch + 2 Min Q&A

At the Elevate Stage at GITEX Africa. Find it on the venue map.

Only 1 person can deliver the pitch on stage.

You will be notified by email that you have been shortlisted including the details to attend a GITEX AFRICA Supernova Pitch Prep online session which is taking place on May 15th , 2024 (1 week before GITEX Africa). Any date changes will be announced.

Your selection email will include the category you’ve been selected to pitch in, location and timing, and presentation requirements.

You will need to have your pitch presentations in 16:9 ratio as a Powerpoint file and a PDF file version. Please share PDFs to make sure your presentation has your correct fonts and formats. If you have any videos as part of your pitch, please send the video file in .mp4 as a separate file. You will be submitting these files by email ONLY if you are shortlisted for the semi-finals and finals which you will be notified about before. Please do not send any files to team members prior to this besides what is required on the Exhibitor portal for the GITEX AFRICA Supernova application.

The team will be in touch if you are shortlisted to move on to the finals. All selection will be made by Day 2 in order to be ready for the Finals on Day 3. Your selection email will include the presentation requirements, location, and timing.

2 Startups are selected per category to pitch in the finals on Day 3.

4 Minute Pitch + 2 Min Q&A per startup

At the 10X stage at GITEX Africa on May 31st (Day 3). Finalists will receive all the logistics details by Day 2 to know where to go and when.

The judging panels for all categories of GITEX AFRICA Supernova will be experts in the respective sectors and will be a diverse panel with investment, commercial, and entrepreneurial background in the sector.