23 April 2025
Innovation City’s Startup of The Year Competition is back and bigger this year!
If you’re a startup generating revenue with a brilliant product or service in any tech sector – or if your company is innovatively solving an African problem – this is your chance to shine. Plus, when you enter, you’ll receive exclusive benchmark data compiled in partnership with The Open Letter, giving you valuable insights into your performance against industry peers.
Submissions close COB Fri 4 April, 2025
Entry Criteria 2025
The startup must be a maximum of 5 years in age – calculated from the establishment date until public nominations open
The startup must have a team of two or more people.
The startup must have a minimum viable product (MVP) and/or service in the market.
The startup must be generating monthly recurring revenue.
The startup must have an office located in South Africa.
Roadmap
Past Winners
Startup of The Year 2024
AI Diagnostics for their groundbreaking TB screening tool. The innovative solution, leveraging AI-enabled digital stethoscopes, enables early and cost-effective detection of Tuberculosis, showcasing the transformative potential of technology in healthcare.
Startup of The Year 2023
Wamly, South Africa’s largest one-way video interview platform, was named Tech Startup of the Year. The company, founded by industrial psychologist and talent expert Francois de Wet, provides innovative solutions for high-profile corporates and CEOs in the recruitment process. The company’s success during the COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated the importance of its one-way video interview platform, which helps save time and create efficiency in the hiring process.
Startup of The Year 2022
Kena’s team have managed to build and launch their health care app business in a highly regulated and very sophisticated $37 billion industry. While the Telehealth care industry in South Africa is still in its infancy, the jury scored Kena highly on its ability to maneuver a business in a difficult landscape wracked with regulations. Kena has a chance to change the landscape of affordable health care through technology, for tens of millions of people.