- A new technology partnership called Cape Town / Stockholm Connect has been launched.
- Developers, investors, entrepreneurs and institutions from Cape Town can join them in Stockholm, Sweden.
- The project will run for the next three years.
A new technology partnership aims to create a platform where companies, developers, investors, entrepreneurs and institutions from Cape Town can join them in Stockholm, Sweden, through a range of activities.
Cape Town / Stockholm Connect was founded thanks to a partnership between Silicon Cape Initiative, Wesgro (Western Cape’s Investment Development Agency), City of Cape Town, Invest Cape Town, The Loudhailer, Business Sweden and the Swedish Embassy.
The project is planned to run for the next three years, with the overall goal of strengthening ties and facilitating bilateral cooperation between Sweden and South Africa, according to a statement.
Cape Town and Stockholm joined because they are leaders in creating new startups and new creative ideas, said Naomi Snyman, new technology and innovation leader at Standard Bank Group, during the launch event. That is why she believes that this initiative has the potential to lead to the co-creation of innovative solutions.
Sweden’s ambassador to South Africa, Hรฅkan Juholt, is happy about the professional match between the two cities.
Learning from each other
“Stockholm and Cape Town share so much knowledge that can be better used together. We can listen, learn and connect businessmen, innovators and financial institutions who want to learn from each other and do business together,” says Juholt.
James Vos, Mayor of Cape Town’s Economic Opportunities, Tourism and Asset Management, says he believes in the power of partnerships to connect local start-ups with international markets, leading to opportunities for growth and job creation.
According to Lebogang Lekoma, head of client services at the local startup Sea Monster, Cape Town is a metropolitan city with many cultures – the kind of diversity that fosters innovation.
For Zachariah George, founder and investment manager at Startupbootcamp AfriTech, combining venture capital, talent, world-class higher education institutions and support organizations such as incubators and accelerators, creates an ecosystem for innovation.
“This is something we saw in Silicon Valley 20 years ago and is what’s happening in Cape Town right now,” says George.
Business Sweden program manager, Per Jansson; global partnership manager at Norrsken Impact Accelerator, Johanna Blendow; and founder and CEO of Green Assets Wallet, Cecilia Repinski, gave some perspective on “Why Stockholm?”.
Stockholm is the third largest hub for the global head office in Europe behind London and Paris, according to Jansson. This makes the city one of the world’s best start-up ecosystems. It has the most “unicorns” after Silicon Valley, including Mojang, Spotify and Skype. In the venture capital industry, the term “unicorn” is commonly used for start-ups with a value of over $ 1 billion.
“Initiatives such as Cape Town / Stockholm Connect are important for entrepreneurs and ecosystems to find mutual partners to adapt to new markets and learn about available opportunities,” says Marie-Claire Maxwell, program manager at Business Sweden.
Source: sn.dk