Lori Sytems from Kenya was crowned as Sub-Saharan Africa’s Most Promising Startup at TechCrunch Battlefield Africa 2017, held in Nairobi, Kenya on 11th October. AgroCenta was chosen as the winner of the social good category, Lori Systems won the productivity and utility category, whilst SynCommerce won the top prize in gaming and entertainment.
TechCrunch Startup Battlefield Africa 2017, sponsored by Facebook, searched for Sub-Saharan Africa’s best innovators, makers and technical entrepreneurs. The event which was the first ever TechCrunch startup competition in Africa, was streamed live on TechCrunch and Facebook.
Fifteen companies were shortlisted from 700 entries and competed to be chosen as Sub-Saharan Africa’s Most Promising Startup. The founders of Lori Systems won US$25,000 (approximately Ksh. 2.5M) in cash plus an all-expense paid trip for two to compete in the Battlefield at TechCrunch’s flagship event, Disrupt San Francisco 2018.
Startup Battlefield alumni include Mint, Dropbox, Yammer, TripIt, Getaround and Cloudflare. The judges included TechCrunch editors as well as top VCs and entrepreneurs:
- Andreata Muforo, Tide Africa Fund
- Leo Stiegeler, Ringier Africa
- Helen Jennings, Naatal
- Eghosa Omoigui, EchoVC
- Wale Ayeni, IFC
- Bosun Tijani, CEO at CcHub
- Bob Collymore, CEO of Safaricom
- Sacha Poignonnec, CEO of Jumia