Airbus to select finalists in Nairobi Bizlab competition

January 15, 2019 in Business, Companies, Foreign News, Technology & Telecoms by Editor

January 15, 2018 – Entrants in the latest Airbus BizLab #Africa4Future challenge for innovative African tech start-ups will present their proposals to experts, investors, and other stakeholders at an open public pitch day in Nairobi on January 17.

#Africa4Future is a joint programme between Airbus’ global aerospace accelerator BizLab and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit German (GIZ), the German agency for International Cooperation. It is dedicated to African tech start-ups that are actively working on aerospace-based solutions to meet Africa’s most pressing challenges.

The competition attracted 314 entries from 19 African countries when the challenge opened last October. The proposals focussed on the application of aerospace-related solutions, including automation, drones, artificial intelligence, data analytics, agriculture, environmental monitoring, engineering, water management, energy and healthcare.

A group of 10 finalists will be announced at the event, after which they will take part in an intensive six-month mentorship and business acceleration programme in France, Germany and South Africa.

#Africa4Future is a joint business accelerator initiative of Airbus BizLab, GIZ’sMake-IT in Africa initiative together with the Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) Africa, the Pan-African training programme, seed fund and incubator network for tech entrepreneurs that brings together start-ups, investors and the wider tech community, in collaboration with Innocircle, the South African-based innovation consultancy.