Applications Open for African Start-Ups to Join Inaugural Tour of Five European Cities

Tuesday 30 May 2017. Lagos, Nigeria. Co-creation Hub (CcHUB), the leading technology innovation centre in Nigeria and Google for Entrepreneurs, have announced the launch of PitchDrive, a three week, five-city European tech hub tour across London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Zurich and Paris. This partnership will bring 15 elite African tech companies together to pitch to investors, explore international opportunities and learn about frontier technology markets.

African startup founders looking to raise Series A funding and above will be selected by the PitchDrive team to embark on a landmark tour that aims to build stronger networks between European investors and African tech talent. Starting in London on 14th of August 2017, the cohort will visit Google’s Campus London, TQ Amsterdam, Factory Berlin and  Impact Hub in Zurich, concluding at NUMA Paris. Upon completion of the tour, the inaugural cohort will have pitched to over 300 investors, with the specific goal of raising over €20M in the three week period. This is the first tour of its kind to connect African tech companies with European capital, and the PitchDrive team is aiming to open up the sector to investors who want to build their portfolios to include emerging markets.

‘Bosun Tijani, CcHUB Founder and CEO says, “PitchDrive will hit the road in August to connect Africa’s tech elite with Europe’s most influential investors. Applicants will be subjected to a rigorous selection process, and those selected will go on to have their business models scrutinised and analysed by some very shrewd and highly experienced investors at a Demo Day on each stop of the tour. It will be tough, but ultimately, we hope to help secure a number of breakthrough capital deals for those who embark on this journey with us. This is an incredible opportunity, and applications for just 15 places on the PitchDrive bus, are now welcome.

“Google started in a garage two decades ago. Our bus is the equivalent of their garage. We hope that with the support of Google for Entrepreneurs on the PitchDrive tour, we may secure capital to launch a new trajectory for one or two African unicorns of the future”.

PitchDrive will provide all travel, accommodation and visa support, as well mentorship and support from notable tech founders well versed in fund raising, including Iroko Founder and CEO Jason Njoku, Saidah Nash Carter of Reuters, Stephen Newton of Illuminate Africa and David Grunwald of Google for Entrepreneurs.

David Grunwald, Head of Global Partnerships Google for Entrepreneurs, adds,”Entrepreneurs from across Africa are building world-class tech companies, and we are delighted to be able to use the power of the Google for Entrepreneurs network to showcase their fantastic products to audiences in some of Europe’s most important tech ecosystems”

Applications are now open for African tech startups who are in a position to fundraise at seed stage and above. Those looking to apply must have been running for at least two years, and be a legal, registered enterprise able to demonstrate a minimum of 12 months revenue-generating operations and must be based in Africa. Ideally, startups will also have a strong management team who have worked together for at least 12 months and the founding team should own between 30-60% of the business with a high-quality board. Founders must also be available for a three-week period through the Summer of 2017.

The PitchDrive team are also looking for companies that are tech-enabled or proprietary/patented tech, technology that has been validated by large reputable corporate customers (where applicable), relates to retail, mobile, financial technology, health or agriculture or have a high differentiation of technology / know how.

Potential applicants can find all criteria and apply at www.pitchdrive.xyz – #PitchDrive

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For additional information or interview requests with ‘Bosun Tijani, Founder and CEO of CcHUB, contact Jessica Hope of Wimbart | jessica@wimbart.com | 0044 [0]7814 714 992

About Co-creation HUB

CcHUB is a social innovation centre dedicated to accelerating the application of social capital and technology for economic prosperity. The technology hub is the first in Nigeria to serve as an Open Living Lab in which user-driven innovation is fully integrated in the co-creative process of new services, products and societal infrastructures.

CcHUB’s methodology is hinged on engaging a community of progressive stakeholders (end-users, subject matter experts, government agencies, businesses, academics, civil societies etc.) who bring their creativity and knowledge to play in co-creating solutions to social challenges faced by the average Nigerian through our open living labs. The resulting innovations are then supported to become sustainable market solutions by providing proactive business support, advice, mentorship and funding through our pre-incubation & research unit. For more information, visit www.cchubnigeria.com

About PitchDrive

PitchDrive, from CcHub, will see fifteen elite start-up founders from across Africa to explore the incredible world of European start-up ecosystems through the eyes of the Google for Entrepreneurs partners in London, Amsterdam, Berlin, Zurich and Paris. Pitch to investors, explore global opportunities and learn from frontier markets.

www.pitchdrive.xyz

About Google for Entrepreneurs

Google for Entrepreneurs provides financial support and the best of Google’s resources to dozens of co-working spaces and community programs across 140 countries. We also create Campuses: physical hubs where entrepreneurs can learn, connect, and build companies that will change the world. To learn more about Google for Entrepreneurs, visit google.com/entrepreneurs or follow us on G+ (+GoogleForEntrepreneurs), Twitter (@GoogleForEntrep) and Facebook (fb.com/GoogleForEntrepreneurs).