Denis Opudo
WeThinkCode, a coding school in conjuction with OYA Venture, a female entrepreneur network are putting up the largest startup competition in the world in South Africa. Founded in 2013 in Beijing by Lean, She Loves Tech has quickly expanded into more than 14 cities globally. The startup will be hosting its African inaugural summit in 2018. It hosted its East African Regional in Nairobi on 14th July 2018. It will host its South Africa Regional in Cape Town on 3rd to 4th August 2018.
The South Africa Regional will use a unique format of the hackathon. The two days event will involve workshops aiming at how to showcase a business idea, mentoring sessions and also a jury of thoughtful leaders. During the actual hackathon themed women, teams will be requested to focus on hacking solutions that offer solutions to education, healthcare or youth unemployment that is all challenges that are relevant to South Africans. A fully funded trip to China will be given to the winning team. They will attend a week-long bootcamp and visit leading Chinese tech firms and incubators, network with investors and have cultural visits. This will be before the international summits and global finals. Both South Africa and China have got a strong trade relationship. Therefore, it is essential to encourage cultural and economic exchange amongst young entrepreneurs.
According to Arlene Mulder from WeThinkCode, the She Loves tech program is a great opportunity for South Africans more so women. It gives them a chance to pitch their talent and innovation. She added that women in South Africa are creative, resilient and strong. She said that South African women have the potential to design solutions to develop a world of possibilities. The OYA Venture group believes in the power of backing the South African female funded businesses. They believe that that is an important factor in growing the entrepreneurial scene and businesses that use technology could be game changers in Africa. According to Charlotte Luzuka from OYA Venture, the platform’s initial work helped it to meet with female founders doing some great things using limited resources, and that is what defines innovation. Luzuka added that hackathon offers the right platform for the growth of such innovations.
She Loves Tech’s founder Virginia Tan believes that hackathon is a good model for encouraging groups that may lack the zeal to pursue their impactful ideas. Tan added that WeThinkCode plays a pivotal role in encouraging women in the STEM. This made them the perfect partner to take the important event to South Africa.
