Afrobytes Event Series London 2018
YSYS Startups pitched and told stories at Afrobytes Series London with a focus on African tech products and contributions to the tech ecosystem development. YSYS Startups supported Afrobytes as an ecosytem partner to build bridges between the African Tech Industry.
The Afrobytes Series London event held on Thursday 6th December evening at Wayra UK, London. Organised by Afrobytes co-Founders Ammin Youssouf and Haweya Mohamed.
YSYS (Your Startup, Your Story)
The YSYS Startup pitch segment was introduced by Deborah Okenla CEO/Founder YSYS.
The YSYS Story
YSYS is a thriving startup community for founders, developers, creatives and investors on a mission to make a difference. Through their members-led workshops and events they upskill their community on tech, innovation, entrepreneurship, investment and more; combining online and offline education. In addition, YSYS collaborate with accelerators, incubators, venture capitalists, not-for profits and corporates on diversity and inclusion impact projects. Impact projects include: OneTech, Tech Inclusion, Backstage Capital, Hatch, FFWD London, Diversity VC and more.
YSYS STARTUPS PITCHES
@DeborahOkenla was joined on the judging panel by @AnthonyWCatt
Anthony has designed & delivered enterprise training programmes for 500+ entrepreneurs in Sudan & Nigeria on behalf of the British Council & provided support to other regional teams in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Questions from Audience taken at the end of the various pitches,
Dayo Akirinade Founder @Africlick
AfriClick is a Social Discovery App for professionals & creatives of African & Caribbean heritage. The mission is to empower global Africans to network and date through their culture. AfriClick’s matching algorithm is tailored to the needs of Africans and is the first of it’s kind to incorporate unique cultural aspects. AfriClick was a recipient of the 2017 University College London Award for Enterprise and Entrepreneurship.
Key points
1. Comparison to Indian Dating Apps and Jewish Dating Apps Industry.
2. Currently Beta stage but have been running events the past year and currently 3335 signups, 700 attendees.
3. The App is open to all cultures but algorithm best suits Afro-Caribbean background.
4. Launch with pre-seed in January 2018.
Value proposition: Free app but premium payment for serious users. Africans date to marry which is cultural and the match making takes into consideration social status, academic achievements, tribe and culture.
Stephan Eyeson Founder @Survey54_
Survey54 is an AI-powered mobile platform helping organisations collect people data in Africa, emerging markets and minority communities. Stephan has a background working at Uber working on partnerships, and SurveyMonkey where he helped grow their enterprise function in EMEA. Stephan also worked in as an investment associate within a cooperate fund and has an MSc in Innovation and Management at Loughborough University where he was awarded a Deans Scholarship.
Key points
1. Survey54 has pilot use cases carried out FMCG and Hilton Hospitality in West Africa.
2. Technical Team with expertise in AI, Machine Learnig and Voice NL
3. Stephan has track background with Survey Monkey and Data Analytics with Uber.
4. Building SDK which can be applied to using Chatbots on Social Media.
Value proposition: There is dearth of accurate data for Corporates seeking entry to high growth cities in Africa. The current data collation scenario is unwieldy and quite expensive while blockchain app can provide verification and immutability, and reduce costs .
Rodney Johnson COO and Co-founder @Vensy_UK
Vensy does “Sports influencer marketing at SCALE!”. They help Business with power campaigns through sports influencers and connect a variety of sport influencers with brands. Vensy uses Machine learning techniques help Brands better understand sport influencers and how their fans behave and interact. With real-time analytics on sport influencers, Brands save time and increase ROI by making smarter sponsorship decisions.
Key Points
1. Provide Social statistics and Audience demographic insights
2. Lightweight workflow to help connect with your chosen sport influencer and understand Audience purchasing habits & personalities
3. Gain deep insights into sport influencers and their audiences and optimise your campaign.
4. Proven and credible use cases. Vensy work with the likes of Formula E, Arsenal FC and O2
Value Proposition: Value for Money: Putting a £ sign on social media posts with AI-driven platform, quantifying the impact of social media and influencer marketing.