The Dig Down

Will has spent the last two decades - or just over that - working in or adjascent to Tech across Africa. Will has been a founder, director and advisor to multiple media and tech businesses over the years, and up until recently he has been the program director of GrindstoneXL, an accelerator focussed on scaling up startups ready for the growth stage. What’s next on the cards for Will is something we’ll know soon… He says we should keep our eyes open for an announcement in August 2023 👀

Will's LinkedIn

Will's Twitter

Keturah Ovio, based out of Nigeria, is building Dukka to solve a range of operations management and payment challenges experienced by African MSME's.

Keturah's LinkedIn --- Keturah's Twitter

Dukka's LinkedIn --- Dukka's Twitter

“The food system is clearly broken - So how do we fix that broken food system?”

This goal is the driving force behind Nigerian startup Farmz2U, where cofounders Aisha Raheem and Oluwatimilehin Akogun are solving problems faced by Buyers, Lenders, Aggregators and Smallholder Farmers.

Aisha on LinkedIn - Aisha Raheem

Oluwatimilehin on LinkedIn - Oluwatimilehin Akogun

Mark shares his thoughts on the VC and funding space in Africa.

Dream VC has 2 programs:

Find Mark Kleyner on LinkedIn and Twitter

Find Dream VC on LinkedIn and Twitter

👩‍🔬 Tasneem, cofounder of Mzansi Meat Co. , is making meat from samples of animal cells from their biotech lab in Cape Town, South Africa. 

🥩 We discussed the challenges of scaling up production, the potential impact on employment, and consumer perceptions of lab-grown meat.

🚀 Exciting developments include optimizing production efficiency, reducing the use of animal-derived inputs, and (maybe) even creating new, better-tasting meats!

Michael Maas is the founder of Zimi, a charging-as-a-service business for electric vehicles in South Africa. Michael is setting up electric vehicle charging stations around South Africa and pulling it all together into an accessible network accessed through a mobile app. We talk about the anticipated boom of electric vehicles as prices continue to decrease making them more accessible, as well as some of factors affecting the electric vehicle landscape in South Africa.

Michael's LinkedIn

Zimi's LinkedIn

Zimi's Website

The Dig Down's LinkedIn

The Dig Down's Twitter: @TheDigDown_

Email me at [email protected] or DM me on LinkedIn or Twitter (@Naude_Luke) with your thoughts.

Taha Jiwaji's LinkedIn

Beem's LinkedIn

If you're interested in roles at Beem, email [email protected].

Amadou Chico Cissoko is an ecosystem enabler focused on coming alongside new founders, investing in them, and then helping them achieve their vision.

If there were 10 Commandments for Startups, then "Know Thy Customer" would probably be number one. Serigne and the folks at Looka are working hard to make sure companies can do just that. 

Enjoy this conversation with Serigne where we discuss the work they're doing, what market research can look like on the ground around Africa, and we even peak into the crystal ball to speculate on the future for Looka.

getLooka.com

Looka's Twitter

Looka's LinkedIn

Serigne's LinkedIn

Please enjoy this conversation with Dave Okech Okech where we talk about the fish-farming industry in East Africa and the systems and tech Aquarech has developed to improve the livelihoods of small-scale fish farmers. It's also the first episode of the podcast!

Aquarech's LinkedIn

Aquarech's Website