JOHANNESBURG - Leading venture capitalists are due to attend the annual DEMO Africa summit in Casablanca next month where they will explore investment opportunities, broaden their knowledge of African startup ecosystems and share best practices on global venture creation.
The lineup will include Silicon Valley investors who have a record of supporting the growth of startups in the Valley and in Africa and are banking on the growth and ingenuity of entrepreneurs on the continent to start and scale global ventures.
Claire Lee, head of Early Stage at Silicon Valley Bank, an industry leader in financing the growth of technology startups globally, is scheduled to deliver the opening keynote address at the summit.
A founding member of Lions@frica and DEMO Africa and a long-time advisor to the office of Global Partnerships at the U.S. State Department, Lee was instrumental in bringing DEMO to Africa in 2012.
"Attending events like these helps me learn so much about entrepreneurship globally – it takes me outside of the ‘bubble’ and outside my comfort zone," Lee said.
"Hearing from early stage founders in nascent, growing markets, is something we always benefit from. Global perspectives are really important.”
VC firms and banks that will be joining DEMO Africa include IDF Captial, Lions@frica, Wamda Capital, Lagos Angels Networks, Convergence Partners, African Business Angels Network, Maroc Numeric Fund, Outlierz Ventures, HSeven, Starup Brics, UK Business Angels Association, Sawari Ventures, Blackbox VC, IFU, Orange, Energy Access Ventures, Nailab, FLat6Labs, Techwadi, Reenging Ventures, GSMA Africa and Algebra Ventures.