Africa Startup Festival 2025: Ten founders win $50k worth of resources and exclusive mentorship from Antlers team
The Africa Startup Festival marked a pivotal turning point for the continent's tech and startup ecosystem. From the pitch competition to the panels and side chats, the event brought together innovators from across different sectors in Africa.
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The Africa Startup Festival (ASF) Lagos 2025, held on Friday, November 28, 2025, at the Balmoral Convention Centre, Federal Palace, Victoria Island, successfully concluded the year as one of the continent’s most critical gatherings for deal-making and innovation. Attracting over 3,000 attendees from across Africa, the festival was a dynamic environment for innovations and partnerships.<br />
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The startup festival featured a robust lineup of over 30 industry-leading speakers across the Main Stage and Impact Stage, bringing perspectives from venture capital, high-growth startups, and corporate tech.<br />
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The day was defined by high-value, no-fluff conversations that centred not just on raising money, but on building lasting value and operational excellence in challenging markets.<br />
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The voices shaping Africa’s tomorrow<br />
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The Main Stage hosted a stellar lineup of thought leaders, including Kola Aina, Founding Partner at Ventures Platform Fund; Chidi Iwuchukwu, Executive Director, Rand Merchant Bank Nigeria; Ifedayo Durosinmi-Etti, Founder/CEO of Herconomy; and Nobuhiko Ichimiya, Managing Director at AAIC Nigeria. <br />
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Their panel sessions, fire-side chats, and keynotes provided clarity on navigating the current global funding climate, the tech ecosystem, operations, and the non-negotiables for success on the continent.<br />
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One of the most interesting tensions running through ASF 2025 was the widening trust gap between founders and investors.<br />
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“The truth is, a lot of things that scale cost money; they require capital. One thing you’ll find once you start building a startup is that it’s very easy to want to build or automate systems, but once you start doing that, you realise that engineering resources are very expensive,” Yanmo Omorogbe, Co-founder and COO of Bamboo, shared during a session.<br />
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The panel sessions made it clear that global capital is becoming more cautious about Africa, not because the opportunities have shrunk, but because the distance between narratives and data has widened. Several investor...
