I spoke at Web Summit 2024 (on my Birthday)!

From London to Lisbon: Building Bridges Between African & Serbian Startups at Web Summit 🌍🇷🇸

Today I celebrated my 28th birthday after delivering two milestone talks:
1️⃣ "From £0 to £2.75M Exit: The Story Behind My Startup Exit"
2️⃣ "Parallel Worlds: Why Balkan & African Startup Ecosystems Are More Similar Than You Think"

What started as speaking sessions transformed into something bigger. Serbian founders weren't just listening - they were connecting dots within the Balkans that I've been seeing in Africa for years:
1️⃣ Both the the Balkans and Africa have a challenging history.
2️⃣ Both startup ecosystems face international scaling challenges.
3️⃣ Both regions have untapped talent pools.
4️⃣ Both have growing yet underutilised diaspora networks.
5️⃣ And so much more...

The response? A few Serbian investors and founders are now planning an Africa tech tour with me to explore opportunities for collaboration! (DM me if you're keen to explore or invest in Africa too)

I learned so much about Serbia and the Balkans during this trip that I wouldn't have learned had I not come!

It even gave me a few ideas for next steps:
1️⃣ Help Balkan startups tap into African markets, and vice versa!
2️⃣ Connect African and Balkan startups to each others talent pools.
3️⃣ Build a founder exchange program between Belgrade and key African tech hubs.

This birthday gift was NOT on my wishlist, but it might be the best one yet! - A chance to bridge two of the world's most exciting emerging tech ecosystems.

To the Serbian startup community: Your warmth and vision have blown me away. This is just the beginning!

Thank you Start To Play and to everyone I interacted with 🙏🏾❤️

Africa x Balkans collaboration loading... ⏳

#WebSummit #Startups #Tech #Balkans #Serbia #Africa #CrossBorderInnovation #Birthday