You can now as of this morning submit you application for DEMO 2014 via the VC4Africa website between today, 15th March 2014 and 15th June 2014 where DEMO Africa has collaborated with the VC4Africa community platform as has happened in previous years.
Final presentation event will be at the Oriental Hotel in Lagos, Nigeria between 22nd and 26th September 2014.
Categories this year include:
- Agriculture
- Health
- Education
- Manufacturing
- Retail
- Media and Entertainment
- Communication
- Transport and Logistics
- Energy
- Finance and Banking
- Water and Sanitation
- Waste Management and Recycling
Any start up that wants to showcase at DEMO Africa 2014 needs to have a working product (not an idea) that is ready for market.
The product must then:
- Solve an existing commercial problem
- Make an impact or change the marketplace into which it is introduced or create a new market
- Have a business plan and a management team capable of delivering the product to market
- Make its public debut at the DEMO Africa conference
- Must be a registered company
Of course they also have rules on what cannot be entered to compete in DEMO Africa 2014. These include products that are:
- Products currently in public distribution, either as a launched product or as a highly publicized beta test or any upgrade to an existing product
- Products entering an already saturated market category with little market differentiation
- Products that have been widely covered by technology and business media
All the applications will be vetted by a panel of judges comprising experts in Tech and Business who will shortlist the best 40 (forty) on their ability to link Creativity, Innovation and Effectiveness and these will have a chance to launch their products to an ecosystem of VCs, investors, tech acquisition specialists, IT buyers and media from across the region and around the globe.
