Co-organized with UNDP, KOICA, WeGO, Kinshasa City Hall, and supported by Silikin Village, "Citypreneurs Kinshasa 2021-2022" was initiated to meet key needs of Kinshasa people. The project focused on two themes:
- household waste management
- access to health and well-being to deal with the humanitarian crisis of COVID-19 in the city of Kinshasa
These were identified as urgent urban needs under the New Deal and Nexus project in the DRC. On the Demo Day on February 20, 2022, each startup came up with a pitch, and 6 of them were selected as winners. The day's event also brought together government officials, private investors, representatives of international organizations and young entrepreneurs for an interactive policy interface to discuss enhancing the impact of start-up ecosystems, with a particular focus on achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and inclusion in innovation spaces.
As a part of the project, Investors Speed Dating, will be held in late March. During the event, the top 6 startups from the Citypreneurs Kinshasa program will meet global investors and explore funding options via short 1:1 meetings between participants. The event will serve as an opportunity to educate participants about DRC’s innovation ecosystem and investment opportunities, with the aim of increasing visibility of DRC startups and Kinshasa’s impact innovation ecosystem.
