​​On September 24th, 2021, Outbox hosted the second session of a series of virtual roundtables around “Challenges & opportunities for EU-Africa Partnerships development”. While the first session, “Improving access to funding for African DIHs & early-stage start-ups”, focused on the difficulties when financing a start-up and the importance on the quality of the business idea, this second session “Knowledge exchange between DIHs in Africa and Europe” discussed the different challenges DIHs/start ups have to face in the two continents, and how can these could be used as tools for development. 

In the framework of the discussions, we had contributions from Jake Phillips, Head Of Ecosystem Development at Dogpatch Labs, a startup hub based on Dublin, Ireland, with the mission to accelerate the development of Ireland’s startup ecosystem by providing a valuable community focused on growth, knowledge, and connection. Furthermore, Phillips is also the director of NDRC, Ireland’s national startup accelerator programme for globally ambitious entrepreneurs, powered by Dogpatch Labs in partnership with Portershed, RDI Hub, and Republic of Work. Being passionate about personal development, Phillips gave great input on how to recognize strengths and weaknesses, in order to form valuable associations that can lead DIHs to be the best versions of themselves.

During the second part of the session, the participants were divided into two breakout rooms, where they discussed different topics such as fundraising, sustainability, and effective ways to share knowledge between African and European DIHs in order to improve business development services. Once the discussions were over, the participants returned to the plenary and presented the results. Ultimately, significant knowledge and opinions were exchanged, and important input was added to the ongoing dialogue about the needs, challenges, and opportunities for African DIHs and Start-ups, both in Africa and Europe. 

You can find more details about the event on our Twitter.

If you missed this Roundtable, you could still attend the next one:

How Might We Improve Access to markets for African and European startups?

Date: Friday 1st October 2021

Time: 2 – 3.30 pm EAT

Who should attend?

• Digital Innovation Hubs
• Investors
• Startup Founders

Details and Registration here.