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This brand new venture festival is positioning our continent at the centre of global innovation, investment and collaboration.

Africa’s first experiential start up and venture festival, uniting entrepreneurship, innovation, and investment, launches on February 13, 2026. Hosted at the Bertha Retreat between Stellenbosch and Franschhoek, SWEAT Africa brings together students, entrepreneurs, investors, venture capitalists, researchers, and founders from across the continent Aand beyond – creating a space where ideas, collaboration, and investment opportunity converge to showcase Africa as a global hub for innovation.

Some of the top universities in South Africa (e.g. Stellenbosch University, University of Cape Town, University of Witwatersrand, University of Pretoria, University of KwaZulu Natal, and Free State University) have joined SWEAT Africa and are sending some of their top start ups. In addition, around 100 international investors and founders are attending the event – because this inaugural event will also host one of the top start up acceleration programmes in Africa, established by the Open Startup International in partnership with the MIT Executive Programme.

SWEAT Africa was born after a 14 km Cape Epic mountain run, when a group of young founders, still dripping with sweat, joked with international Angel investors from Google and OpenAI about hosting a tech acceleration program in Africa’s hottest month. Inspired by Finland’s Slush and fuelled by laughter (and heat), they came up with SWEAT – Students Working

to Empower African Talent – and decided to create an event combining world class startup acceleration, mentorship, and networking. More than a startup accelerator, SWEAT Africa is a human accelerator: a place to sweat, work, invest and connect together while shaping the Africa we envision and dream of.

Intentionally different from traditional conferences, SWEAT Africa is a curated platform recognising that sustainable progress happens where ideas, people, and context intersect. The programme combines focused startup engagement and investor access with shared experiences designed to foster openness, trust, and long term collaboration.

“SWEAT Africa creates space for the kinds of conversations that matter – across disciplines, sectors and borders,” said Centre for Epidemic Research and Innovation (CERI)’s director and co founder of SWEAT, Prof Tulio de Oliveira. “SWEAT will host over 100 start ups from Africa and 50 venture capitalists and investors together. When one puts founders and investors together with the top universities, that’s where real innovation starts.”

At its core, SWEAT Africa is a two day, high impact gathering connecting top investors with Africa’s leading deep tech startups and early stage founders. The 2026 programme features:

• Deep tech startups from across the continent.

• The Open StartUp BRAIN 5.0 accelerator programme, hosted in partnership with MIT. Participation from international investors and ecosystem stakeholders, enabling cross border collaboration and co investment.

• Curated networking experiences, including facilitated matchmaking between founders, venture capitalists, and lending partners.

• Pitchin’ Picnics highlighting investment ready startups.

Founder and investor storytelling sessions, including the SWEAT panel inspired by the Hot Ones format, offering candid perspectives on building and scaling deep tech ventures in Africa.

SWEAT Africa is organised collaboratively, bringing together partners from academia, industry, startup ecosystems, and investment networks. This approach ensures equal representation and shared ownership, reflecting a vision of ecosystem building that prioritises contribution over hierarchy.

One of the co organisers, Open Startup, expressed huge motivation for this new partnership; “We love the idea of African organisations teaming up to promote science led ventures. This will showcase the momentum for African Deep Tech, and that Africans are ready to SWEAT for it!” said Houda Ghozzi.

Another co organiser, University of Witwatersrand, is equally excited. “We recognise the depth of talent in our universities and how often promising ideas stall due to limited opportunities. As an institution committed to research translation and societal impact, Wits wants to help innovators move from proof of concept to real world adoption, while building ethical, inclusive businesses that create jobs and address meaningful challenges,” said Prof Lynn Morris, Deputy Vice Chancellor: Research & Innovation. “Africa’s next generation of founders should not have to leave the continent to access world class support. SWEAT will help participants clarify a credible path forward, build practical skills in validation, team formation, and pitching, form strong networks of mentors and peers, and gain the confidence to innovate at global standards from an African base.”

A key objective of SWEAT Africa is connecting African startups with global investors and partners in practical, meaningful ways.

This news piece was published at the gem!

Click on the image above to read the gem, genomics, epidemics & microbes Vol 9 Issue 1, Dec 2025, or scan the qrcode.

News date: 2026-01-29

Links:

https://sweat.africa

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