Department for Culture, Media and Sport
Last week, 20-22 January 2020, the International Tech Hub welcomed 15 enthusiastic and inspiring tech entrepreneurs from across Africa to the UK, to participate in the inaugural Africa-UK: Female Tech Founders programme.
The programme
Across three days, our Founders discovered the UK’s thriving tech ecosystem through a series of masterclasses, tailored networking opportunities and workshops.
The programme kicked off with the group attending the high profile UK-Africa Investment Summit which brought together leaders and businesses from both Africa and the UK. This presented the perfect opportunity for participants to meet a wide range of potential partners for collaboration as well as top decision-makers from the UK and Africa. The Summit covered topics including sustainable finance, growth areas and increased trade and investment opportunities.
Setting up and scaling up
Bright and early the next day our Founders enjoyed a walking tour of a selection of London tech communities followed by a breakfast event. They then gained the insight of Global Entrepreneurship Programme Dealmakers who shared their experiences of setting up and scaling from a UK headquarters and all that entails, through a series of masterclasses.
Honing pitches and sharing potential
The final day saw our Founders deliver their elevator pitches to a room full of targeted UK-based investors, entrepreneurs and tech stakeholders at a networking breakfast. The UK attendees then held “office hours” to offer support and advice for our Founders, as well as explore potential business development opportunities.
Over lunch our Founders were joined by the Government Digital Service to discuss the UK public sector market.
Time to reflect and celebrate
Following a peer-learning session to reflect on the programme, our Founders travelled to the House of Commons for a Parliamentary reception hosted by Helen Grant MP.
The event featured MPs, government officials and UK tech stakeholders with a focus on Africa (including entrepreneurs, accelerators and industry groups) who were keen to meet our Founders and learn more about their innovative startups.
Our Founders have now returned home armed with new connections, ideas and training which they will implement in their own startups as well as cascade to their local ecosystems as programme Champions. The International Tech Network’s Hubs in Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa selected these Female Tech Founders from a pool of over 300 applicants, and look forward to continuing to work with them. The team is excited to watch their businesses go from success to success!
Find out more and get involved
- Visit the International Tech Hubs homepage on gov.uk
- Stay up to date and explore how you can get involved by signing up to our newsletter
- Email us at international-tech-hub-network@culture.gov.uk, we’d love to hear from you
- Read more #DCMSTechHubs blogs in this series.