Ethiopian Informer
ADDIS ABABA: June 7 (Ethiopian Informer) – The inaugural Startup Ethiopia event is set to be held on June 8 and 9 as part of Ethiopia Innovate Week 2019, organizers disclosed on Friday.
The inaugural Startup Ethiopia event, which will be held at Millennium Hall in the capital Addis Ababa, features a national competition worth 1 million Ethiopian birr prize with an expected participation of 2,000, co-organizers the Ethiopian Ministry of Innovation and Technology and BlueMoon Ethiopia, a private startup company, said on Friday.
“The event, engaging numerous partners among incubators and hubs in the startup community, aims to be a major flagship event of the startup ecosystem of Ethiopia, with the aim of galvanizing Ethiopia’s emerging and rapidly growing startup community,” the statement read.
Eleni Gabre-Madhin, founder of BlueMoon Ethiopia, said “It is the most exciting time to be a startup in Ethiopia, and for the first time, this event is about making big things come alive over the next few years.”
Various side events and keynote remarks that are set to be held during the event are said to address “the lack of venture investing in Ethiopia, policies to encourage innovation startups, and effective angel network building.”
Among confirmed speakers and judges of the competition are TechCrunch, Jeffries Investment Banking, and Stackshare from the USA, while GSMA Accelerator and Village Capital are also expected from Kenya, it was noted.
