The Kampala Innovation Week 2019 was launched yesterday from Design Hub Kampala and this year’s event is scheduled to run from 16th to 18th October at Kololo Independence Grounds and is expected to bring together key players and stakeholders in the Startup ecosystem to raise the country’s profile in the startup space.
Speaking at the Press brief last Morning Dr. Maxwell Otim, Director of research, science, and innovation at Ministry of Science Technology and Innovation also said “The government is looking to pick the innovation out there that needs to be natured and support potential products” which should be a huge incentive for you to sign up for the event. The government this year choose 60 startups to support under the National ICT initiative program.
Richards Zulu Founder Outbox Hub and Chairman of Startup Uganda made a remark by saying Kampala Innovation Week is a demonstration that working together to build our startup ecosystem is possible and the benefits are immense. Here is our top pick picks why Uganda Startups should register to showcase at the event.
Kampala Innovation Week is seeing positive growth in numbers
Kampala Innovation Week has grown from just over 150 attendees in 2017 to more than double the attendance to 350 active participants in 2018.
Because of the support by UNCDF and various national & international partners (Ministry of ICT, GSMA, International Trade Center, Shona, Jumia, etc), this year’s event is set to break the threshold of 1000 attendees.
This target audience will consist of investors, ecosystem enablers, business owners and most prominently Kampala’s young, innovative crowd who are eager to learn from successful startups and quick to adopt already existing solutions for their personal and business needs.
This alone is the biggest selling point as to why startups should register to showcase their products, however, there will be a pitching competition where startups can walk away with funding to kick start their entrepreneurship journey.
This year’s theme is centered around StartUps
Under the Theme Showcase. Discover. Engage, a conducive space will be created to display the latest in Ugandan innovation from startups for the first day of the event.
The three-day event will house around 30 side sessions and masterclasses which will be a chance for startups to discover challenges in the ecosystem, find potential partners, customers, investors, and engage with various thought leaders on how to take both your business and the Ugandan Startup Ecosystem to the next level
How do participate in the Kampala Innovation Week?
As part of the strategy to encourage participants and startups, entrance and registration for the innovation well is absolutely free
All you have to do is head straight to the official website www.kiw.ug and register today either to attend, pitch or exhibit at the three-day event in October.
