Southern Africa Startup Awards

Southern Africa Startup Awards is a circuit of the Global Startup Awards which provides an annual spotlight focus to web/tech startups in regions across the globe. Each individual regional award places a heavy focus on unearthing and rewards the very best from within their respective ecosystems & connecting each of the countries to create a stronger united brand. The awards stand to represent the entire startup and tech community – from the startups themselves, through to the people behind them, & the organisations that work alongside these visionaries to make the great things possible.

Please list links to your Website and Social Media Platforms here:

Website: www.southernafricastartupawards.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/GSAwardsSouthernAfrica/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/GSASAfrica
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/sasawards/

Describe in detail what your Organisation does:

Southern Africa Startup Awards is a registered Non-Profit Company with CIPC (2018/280322/08). We also have our NPO status 210-073NPO. Southern Africa Startup Awards is a circuit of the Global Startup Awards which provides an annual spotlight focus to web/tech startups in regions across the globe. Each individual regional award places a heavy focus on unearthing and rewards the very best from within their respective ecosystems & connecting each of the countries to create a stronger united brand. The awards stand to represent the entire startup and tech community – from the startups themselves, through to the people behind them, & the organisations that work alongside these visionaries to make the great things possible. It is the largest independent startup-ecosystem competition started in the Nordics in 2012, covering more than 50+ countries in 7 regions. Since 2012, Global Startup Awards has grown to include South East Asia, Central Europe, SAARC Region (South Asia), with East Asia, Baltics and Southern Africa launched in 2018

Our Mission is to connect, support, and celebrate key players in national and regional startup ecosystems worldwide and to fuse them together on a global entrepreneurial network, creating a matrix of opportunities for international partnerships, commercial exchange and investment opportunities. We do this by working bottom up with local startup ecosystems, always putting the founders and startup ecosystem supporters first.

We invite participants from all 15 Southern African countries (SADC); South Africa, Botswana, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Swaziland, Zambia, Namibia, Tanzania, Angola, Malawi, Mauritius, Madagascar, Democratic Republic of Congo, Seychelles and Lesotho.

The Awards are carried out in three rounds in each region. First, national nominations are opened, then nominees are shortlisted with the guidance of our Ambassadors, then announced for the voting process to start. A public vote, together with a judging process by the jury panel will determine the national winners in each category from each participating country. The national winners will move on to the Grand Finale for the selection of the regional winners. Finally, the regional winners will compete on a global level at the Global Startup Awards.

How long has your Organisation been operational?

6 years

In your opinion, what has been the most challenging aspect of running your Organisation? 

Lack of funding
Poor Networking and communications
Limited capacity
Poor relationships with other organisations

Describe your Nonprofit Journey in three words:

Bringing Regional Connectivity and Global Visibility

Do you collaborate with other Causes? If yes, would you like to mention them?

Yes, we collaborate with Startup Commons www.startupcommons.org and SAIS www.saisprogramme.org

If you had one Organisation wish, what would it be?

It will be to build a sustainable, strong and investment ready startup ecosystem in SADC and the rest of Africa.

In your opinion, which skills do Nonprofits in your Country lack?

Leadership
Accountability
Training

Looking back at your Cause Journey, what advice would you give a newbie Organisation?

Behind every success is a great team. Great teams are a treasure. Put together a great team.

If you could change one thing about the Nonprofit Landscape, what would it be?

Poor governance

Which Cause achievement are you most proud of? Feel free to elaborate on why and include any links:

We achieved over 3000 nominations in our very first edition more than what other regions have achieved in their first 4 years. This just show that Africa is ready to embrace innovation and technology which is the way our way is leading to…

Last question, if your friends had to describe your Organisation in three words, which would they use?

Dedicated, Passionate and impact driven