Over the past decade, Open Startup has supported thousands of founders and startups across more than 20 African countries. Its latest focus is The Science Road, an initiative designed to help deep tech and research led ventures make the difficult journey from scientific and technical development to market readiness, investment and global scale. This comes at a critical moment for the continent. Africa has more than 300 active deep tech startups that have collectively raised around 3 billion dollars over the past decade, yet the ecosystem remains fragmented, funding gaps persist and universities often struggle to connect research with industry and commercial opportunities.
In this episode, Houda explains why Africa's deep tech challenge is not simply about producing more research, but turning scientific breakthroughs into commercially viable companies.
What We Discuss With Madelaine
• Could the clothes in your wardrobe actually begin their journey in an African forest?
• Why does Africa supply materials to global fashion brands while capturing only a fraction of the value created from them?
• Could Africa build a fashion value chain that takes products from forest plantations all the way to finished clothing?
• Is sustainable fashion an overlooked industrialisation opportunity for Africa?
• What would it take for Africa to turn its natural resources into more factories, higher value exports and better jobs?
Did you miss my previous episode where I discuss Can Africa Build a Sustainable Fashion Value Chain From Raw Material to Retail? (https://www.buzzsprout.com/1901592/episodes/19620913) Make sure to check it out!
Connect with Terser:
LinkedIn - Terser Adamu (https://www.linkedin.com/in/terseradamu/)
Instagram - unlockingafrica (https://www.instagram.com/unlockingafrica/)
Twitter (X) - @TerserAdamu (https://twitter.com/TerserAdamu)
Connect with Houda
LinkedIn - Houda Ghozzi, PhD (https://www.linkedin.com/in/houda-ghozzi-phd-27296b83/) and Open Startup (https://www.linkedin.com/company/open-startup-international/)
Many of the businesses unlocking opportunities in Africa don’t do it alone. If you’d like strategic support on entering or expanding across African markets, reach out to our partners ETK Group:
www.etkgroup.co.uk (https://www.etkgroup.co.uk/)
info@etkgroup.co.uk (mailto: info@etkgroup.co.uk)