On Wednesday, 10 February, Stockholm – the birthplace of fast-growing tech companies like Skype, Spotify and Klarna – will join forces with Cape Town, dubbed Africa’s tech capital and home to start-ups such as Aerobotics, SweepSouth and Sea Monster, to launch Cape Town / Stockholm Connect.
This is a platform that will bring together companies, developers, customers, investors, entrepreneurs and institutions from across Cape Town and Stockholm via a series of activities.
It will also serve as a meeting point and provide participants with matchmaking opportunities and company visits, while also supporting individual requests.
The launch event will feature a diverse group of speakers sharing their insights about the start-up landscape in both SA and Sweden. Two panel discussions will take place, each exploring the opportunities offered by these two cities.
The South African panellists will include Dr Sumarie Roodt, chairperson of the Silicon Cape Initiative; Zachariah George, principal at Nedbank Venture Capital & Alternative Investments; and Lebogang Lekoma, director of client services at local start-up Sea Monster.
The Swedish contingent will comprise Per Jansson and Marie-Claire Maxwell, programme managers at Business Sweden; Johanna Blendow, global partnership manager at Norrsken Impact Accelerator; and Cecilia Repinski, CEO and founder of Green Assets Wallet.
“It’s time to accelerate and intensify business exchange between Stockholm and Cape Town. Geographical boundaries don’t exist in the digital world, but we have identified gaps when it comes to knowledge and understanding about the respective markets. By connecting these two nodes of digital excellence, we want to close those gaps and create new business opportunities,” says Håkan Juholt, Swedish ambassador to South Africa.
Alderman James Vos, City of Cape Town mayoral committee member for economic opportunities and asset management, adds: “Connecting Cape Town’s start-up businesses with other markets across the globe is an important aspect of growing our local economy and creating opportunities for growth and job creation.
“Cape Town is one of the fastest growing start-up centres on the continent and we have so much to offer. Sharing the knowledge and opportunities in our city with other start-up centres can only lead to more benefits for our start-up ecosystem. I am happy to participate in this virtual launch.”
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