WHAT IS THE SUPERNOVA CHALLENGE 2.0?

The Supernova Challenge 2.0 is Africa's largest early-stage startup pitch competition, with a total prize pool of $110,000, equity-free!

Selected exhibiting startups have the chance to pitch directly to investors at the monthly Virtual Qualifiers, providing additional exposure and investor introductions prior to Expand North Star.

Semifinalist's selections for Supernova will be on a monthly rolling basis starting in January, shortlisted startups have a chance to connect with investors who are participating as judges and selected startups from each virtual pitch can prepare earlier for Supernova at the event

INTERESTED TO WIN?

WHO CAN APPLY, AND HOW?

Introducing Virtual Qualifiers

Winning startups will receive sponsored exhibition pods, along with travel and accommodation, to participate in GITEX AFRICA Morocco, taking place from April 14–16, 2025.

This year, all startups are invited to apply for the Virtual Qualifiers. Three startups will be selected to exhibit and pitch at GITEX AFRICA Morocco!

TThe Virtual Qualifier was held on January 27th at 4:00 PM UAE time. If you've missed the deadline, please click the link below to book an exhibitor pod.

2025 PITCH COMPETITION TIMELINE

Virtual Qualifier 1

27th January

Application Deadline

26th March

Virtual Pitch Prep Session

28th March

Semi-Finalists Announced

4 April

Semi-Finals Pitch Competition Begins

14 April

GITEX Universe Finals Pitch

15th April

Finals Pitch Competition and Winner Announced

16 April

 

LUPIYA, ZAMBIA WIN THE OVERALL SUPERNOVA CHAMPION USD 50,000 PRIZE

Lupiya has developed a pioneering credit-first and AI driven neobank that fundamentally transforms access to financial services in Africa. Our platform offers a comprehensive suite of online financial products, including easily accessible loans, peer-to-peer investment opportunities, and versatile payment solutions. This approach directly addresses the inefficiencies and accessibility challenges in the current financial landscape.

FAQs

To enter the Supernova Pitch Virtual Qualifier:
1. Open to non-exhibiting and exhibiting startups interested in GITEX AFRICA
2. Complete the form with your pitch deck
3. All selected startups will be informed if they have been selected for virtual qualifier

1. All winning startups must attend GITEX Africa Morocco in-person
2. Winning startups will then receive access to our Exhibitor Portal (Ezone)
3. Startups will then be required to submit their pitch deck, elevator pitch video & application form to be eligible for Supernova via Ezone

There will be no sector categories in the upcoming edition as part of Supernova. The selection committee will score, and shortlist startups based on a variety of metrics including sector representation There are however Special Mention & Sponsored awards which will have application criteria mentioned in the Exhibitor Portal (Ezone)

Awards
1st Place - $50k
2nd Place - $30k
3rd Place - $20k

Special Awards:
Women in Tech - $5k
Young CEO Award - $5k
GITEX Asia Award
GITEX Europe Award
GITEX Nigeria Award
Expand North Star Dubai Award | Sponsored by Dubai Chamber of Digital Economy

The team will be in touch regarding your cash prize and next steps 1 week after GITEX Africa 2025.

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 26th March 2025 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 April 4th, 2025 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?
  • Pitch and Deck Quality: Clarity, Storytelling, Design & Pitch Delivery

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.

40 startups will be selected to pitch in-person as part of the Supernova Semi-Finals on Day 1.

The highest scoring 10 startups will move on to pitch in-person as part of the Supernova Finals which will take place on Day 3 to determine 1st, 2nd & 3rd place winners.

For the featured (GITEX EUROPE, GITEX NIGERIA, GITEX ASIA & Expand North Star Dubai) and special mention awards, 10 startups will be selected to pitch in-person per award category on Day 2.

There will be no Finals pitching on Day 3 for these Special Mention Awards.

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 March 28th, 2025. 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.

10 startups are selected from the 40 semifinalists.

2 Minute Pitch + 4 Min Q&A per startup

At the 10X stage at GITEX Africa on April 16th 2025 (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.

2024 WINNERS

DIGITAL FINANCE AND BLOCKCHAIN – USD 10,000 – SECONDSTAX, GHANA

HEALTHTECH – USD 10,000 – DEEPECHO, MOROCCO

AI AND DIGITAL CITIES – USD 10,000 – RAWMART, EGYPT

SUSTAINABILITY AND AGRITECH – USD 10,000 – STABLE FOODS, KENYA

CYBERSECURITY – USD 10,000 – FACIA, UNITED KINGDOM

WOMAN IN TECH AWARD – INSIGHTEX, MAURITANIA

YOUNG CEO AWARD – SECDOJO, MOROCCO

INTERNATIONAL STARTUP AWARD – FLITTO, SOUTH KOREA

EXPAND NORTH STAR, DUBAI – CHARI, MOROCCO

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

2024 GITEX Supernova Challenge Sponsors

2024 JURY

AI & DIGITAL CITIES

Sanchit Juneja

Director Big Data & Machine Learning

Booking.com

Netherlands

Arthur Chupeau

Managing Partner

Baobab Network

Kenya

Lavina Ramkissoon

Technology & Data Expert

United Nations University Centre for Policy Research

South Africa

Faisal Hammoud

Director Business Development

Dubai Internet City

UAE

HEALTHTECH

Delphine Cardi

M&A Manager

CFAO

France

Hanna Burkhardt

Head of Venture Fund

UNICEF Venture Fund

Sweden

Nada Nadif

President

Avicenne Health Consulting

Morocco

James Wambui

Investment Analyst

AAIC

Kenya

Cybersecurity

Christophe Subias

Chief Information Security Officer

Orange

France

Sonia Cissé

Partner

Africa Data Protection / Linklaters

France

Egla Ntumba

Senior Investor

Newtown Partners

South Africa

Fintech & blockchain

Omar Idrissi Amraoui

Head of Department

TAMWILCOM

Morocco

Tony Idugboe

Group Chief Strategy & Investment Officer

Nigerian Exchange Group

Nigeria

Maya Horgan

Founder & Partner

Ingressive Capital

Nigeria

SUSTAINABILITY & AGRITECH

Réna Kakon

CoFounder

Kara Ventures

France

Sherief Kesseba

Managing Partner

Climate Resilient Africa Fund

Egypt

Nawfal Fihri

Director

CDG Invest

Nigeria

FINALS JURY

Andrew Carruthers

Management Partner

Novastar Ventures

United Kingdom

Bongani Sithole

CEO

Founders Factory Africa

South Africa

Tarek Chbourk

Chief Transformation Officer

Royal Air Maroc

Morocco

Eleni Gabre-Madhin

Chairperson

Bluespace

USA

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IN PARTNERSHIP WITH

ORGANISED BY