Pivot East, our premier East Africa entrepreneurs program is back for its 6th year!
The PIVOT EAST is a program of targeted entrepreneurial workshops, pitching competition and conference for entrepreneurs leveraging technology to provide products or services to customers, and business advisory sessions. It culminates in the top 25 East Africa startups pitching to investors and partners at a finalists conference. Apart from developers and entrepreneurs, typical audiences at the event include investors, corporate executives, government officials, Hub Managers, SME enablers, representatives of development organizations and academia. Pivot Alumni received over $200K from iHub and gone to raise $50M from external investors in the past 5 years.
In 2016, Pivot East took a 2-year break. During this time we have refined the program to ensure maximum value for entrepreneurs at all stages of this program and maximum value for investors and partners. We have also increased opportunities from the public, the private sector and other SME enablers to be a part of the program.
During these two years we have worked with our entrepreneurs to refine key elements of their business models and given some of them opportunities in our six-month accelerator, Traction Camp. Entrepreneurs have also had access to our community space, mentorship support and opportunities shared with us from other partners and ecosystem players.
Over the past 2 years, we have researched, refined, asked, listened and learned a lot from our alumni, partners and the community. We are ready for the next phase of the PIVOT EAST. We are ready to support and provided a much-needed launchpad and platform for East Africa Startups.
“We’re excited to bring back Pivot East having incorporated invaluable learning on content and structure. Moving forward, learning will be a key component of Pivot East to ensure that the program remains relevant, exciting and impactful for the ecosystem” Nekesa Were, iHub Managing Director
We are delighted to announce that we will have PIVOT East in 2019 with the call for applications opening on 11th March 2019 and the startups pitching competition and conference event happening on 27th June, 2019.
This year’s applicants both in the software and hardware space can apply to participate in the competition in these five categories:-
- Finance – including digital or mobile payments, banking, insurance, cryptocurrencies, e-commerce etc.
- Enterprise – including ERP Systems, CRMs, Recruiting platforms, value chain management, marketing, production, etc.
- Entertainment – including gaming, social networking, e-magazines, music, video, photography etc.
- Social Impact – including education, agriculture, health, governance, and other social development themes.
- Utilities – A catch-all category including applications for enhancing the usability and versatility of technology etc
In the previous years, Pivot East has received support from more than 30 organizations both in cash and in kind. Some of these sponsors are: Samsung, Omidyar Network, NESC, Co-op Bank, inMobi, Mercy Corps, Kenya ICT Board, Safaricom, Qualcomm, Google, Facebook, Microsoft, Nokia, CGAP, Accion, BlackBerry, OLX, Eskimi, Uganda Communications Commission, MTN Uganda, NITA-UG, World Bank( infoDev), Chase Bank, Motorola Solutions , Intel, Facebook, Making All Voices Count, Chase Bank, Homeboyz Foundation among others
We have worked with over 150 startups across East Africa. Some Pivot alumni are; Eneza Education, Totohealth, Mfarm, Kopokopo, Ma3Route, Ma3Racer, Lipisha, SleepOut.com, Hehe Ltd, Ensibuuko, Ubongo Kids to mention a few. Over 3,000 people have attended PIVOT East events across the region, Including over 120 investors.
For more information email us on pivoteast@ihub.co.ke | www.pivoteast.co.ke
