Dear Listers, The PIVOT East conference tomorrow (Tuesday) at Panari Hotel might be of interest to some of you. - Main feature: 25 startups in five categories from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Ethiopia pitching for funding (totaling $50,000+) - judges comprising investors - Pitching will be punctuated by 4 key fireside chat panels themed as follows :- - Size and quality of the deal pipeline for Tech investments in East Africa (Savannah Fund, Growth Africa and TLcom Capital) - Synergies between developer communities and corporates in mobile technology (Motorola Solutions, Samsung & Intel) - The relationship between innovation, entrepreneurship and the economy (Dr. Ndemo, Chase Bank, Worldbank / infoDev) - Hype and Substance - Comparing the startup ecosystems in East Africa to other successful places (Jonathan Levi, Erik Hersman, Matthew Papakipos and Philipp Kandal) - The award ceremony will be on Wednesday 2-5pm (a departure from tradition) Here's the full agenda - http://www.pivoteast.com/agenda-2014/ and the list of speakers is here - http://www.pivoteast.com/speakers-2014/ PIVOT East is a rich networking opportunity especially for Tech investors and serious Tech startups. Looking forward to seeing some of you there. best regards John Kieti - Lead, m:lab East Africa -- My Blog - www.gmeltdown.com ''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''''' The ordinary just won't do