Africa’s main Company-backed Accelerator continues constructing a World-Class Group by Promotions and New Hires
The DNA of Startupbootcamp AfriTech is a double helix of two core rules – “African Options for African Challenges” and “For Africans By Africans.” Since our founding in 2017, one of the vital vital objectives for the Firm has been to make sure that the entire most important roles are stuffed by African staff members who can lead and encourage the startup founders that take part in our world-class Accelerator packages.
Essentially the most seen and impactful position within the Firm is the Founder In Residence who’s liable for all points of our flagship Accelerator program. Immediately, we’re honored to announce that Oshone Ikazoboh has joined the SBC AfriTech staff, and shall be main Cohort 2 of our ASIP Accelerator, which can open for purposes on November 15. Startupbootcamp is the main corporate-backed accelerator in Africa, and the success of our alumni is a direct results of the intensive Company Startup Collaboration. For that cause, the Founder in Residence position requires a person with an uncommon mixture of expertise working in massive corporates AND as a startup founder. Oshone is one in every of solely a handful of Africans with this uncommon and worthwhile capacity to mix these two contradictory worlds.
Oshone grew up in Lagos, Nigeria, and studied at Liverpool John Moores College, United Kingdom, graduating in 2008 with a Bachelor’s diploma in Engineering, Networking, and Telecommunications. He started his profession constructing profitable start-ups within the IT area, with shoppers like Afrinvest and the Nigerian Inventory Trade. Following that, he based and served as CEO of naij.com which grew into one of many largest neighborhood websites in Nigeria. After it’s sale, naij.com grew to become legit.ng and it now has over 10.5 million viable social media followers. In 2013, Oshone exited the corporate and went to West Home IT West Africa, the place he oversaw all divisions to make sure that the corporate was realizing all set targets. His subsequent start-up was Zoto, one of many early pioneer pockets/fee options in Nigeria. Zoto was a Digital Banking utility that allowed customers to buy airtime and pay payments digitally by the clicking of a button. On the forefront of Digital innovation, Zoto was one of many first purposes within the trade to call a buyer care avatar (Zubby). Most just lately, Oshone joined Entry Financial institution, because the Managing Director for the Cost Providers Firm arm. He helped launch an in-house start-up and in addition helped to remodel the mindset of the financial institution, serving to them change into extra lean and agile.
As Founder-In-Residence, Oshone will now change into the ‘co-founder’ of 10 new startups in every cohort (40+ startups in whole over the subsequent 3 years) and can lead our efforts to scout, talent, and scale essentially the most disruptive startups on the continent. His intensive community in Nigeria which incorporates a number of the largest banks in Africa shall be a useful useful resource for our startup founders. We welcome Oshone to our dynamic staff and we look ahead to remodeling the African tech ecosystem collectively.
One of many largest gaps that we’ve got recognized with African startups is Storytelling. There are unimaginable innovators with inspiring options to huge challenges, however the African tales hardly ever get observed, constantly overshadowed by startups from Silicon Valley, Europe, and extra in style Rising Markets like India. SBC portfolio corporations learn to pitch their USP, worth proposition, and ‘secret sauce’ to degree the taking part in subject and put them on parity with world-class accelerator packages.
SBC AfriTech is thrilled to announce that Jocelyn Nyaguse has joined us within the position of Storytelling and Advertising Lead. Jocelyn brings a wealth of expertise to the corporate and our startups, having beforehand held prestigious roles together with Africa Communications at Influence Hub and Head of Digital for one in every of Zimbabwe’s main advert businesses, Columbus DDB. Jocelyn initially joined SBC as an Entrepreneur in Residence centered on Advertising, and he or she was liable for the pitch coaching in addition to internet hosting weekly podcasts and Clubhouse discussions with founders, traders, luminaries, and influential stakeholders within the African tech ecosystem. In her new position, she is going to increase our efforts to construct platforms, together with on Twitter Areas, to amplify the tales of Innovators throughout the African continent.
SBC AfriTech is a pan-African accelerator program, and this yr has opened a brand new campus in Dakar, which would be the dwelling for our ASIP Accelerator. Operating hybrid on-line & in-person packages brings new alternatives for SBC to increase our affect on the African tech ecosystem. It additionally creates important new operational and logistical challenges for our staff. Happily, we’ve got an absolute rockstar who retains issues operating easily behind the scenes, and right now SBC AfriTech is saying that Danielle Joubert has been promoted to Director of Operations. Over the past 3 years, she has risen by the ranks and continues to be the glue that holds collectively an organization with staff members, startups, founders, mentors, company companions, and packages unfold throughout the whole continent.
SBC AfriTech exists to Speed up the subsequent technology of African Innovators and we’re excited to see what is feasible from our unequalled staff.
About Startupbootcamp AfriTech
Startupbootcamp AfriTech was launched in 2017 as the primary multi corporate-backed pan-African startup accelerator. We run world-class accelerator packages, working with a number of the most disruptive startups on the continent. We offer entry to our international community of company companions, traders, and mentors. For extra info go to: http://bit.ly/sbcafritech
About The Telecel ASIP Accelerator
The Telecel Africa Startup Initiative Program was based by Moh Damush, Telecel Group CEO as a CSR exercise. It was designed to assist early-stage startups whose modern concepts are making a distinction of their communities by networks and instruments they require to scale affect. The Program has advanced and with the assistance of Startupbootcamp Afritech, the inaugural Accelerator Program efficiently scaled startups from a number of verticals in Africa. This system occurred in a hybrid format and culminated in a Demo Day which was held in Dakar Senegal. For extra info on the ASIP, go to www.asiprogram.com
