Africa Tech Festival: dates, who attends, and how founders get in
Africa Tech Festival is one of Africa’s largest technology events, bringing together telecom leaders, investors, startups, enterprise decision-makers and policymakers to explore the technologies shaping the continent’s digital future.
The essentials from the organiser's own pages: when, where, how big, and how founders get in. Speakers, investor lists and past editions are on the official site.
- Next edition
- Nov 17–19, 2026 · Africa Tech Festival 2026 source
- Where
- Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Cape Town, South Africa
- Format
- in-person
- Startup pass
- Founders can apply for the Startup Pass, reserved for tech-startup founders and senior decision-makers at Director level or above; approval may result in a different pass type. Startups can also purchase a Startup Pod or apply separately to the pitch competition; no price is published for these routes. source
- AfricaIgnite – Startup World Cup Pitch Competition
- $1,000,000 investment prize at the 2027 Startup World Cup Grand Finale (2026 competition) source
- Cadence
- Annual, November
Next edition
| Dates | Nov 17–19, 2026 source |
|---|---|
| Edition | Africa Tech Festival 2026 |
| Venue | Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC), Cape Town, South Africa |
| Tickets | africatechfestival.informafestivals.com source |
How founders get in
| Startup programme | Founders can apply for the Startup Pass, reserved for tech-startup founders and senior decision-makers at Director level or above; approval may result in a different pass type. Startups can also purchase a Startup Pod or apply separately to the pitch competition; no price is published for these routes. source |
|---|
AfricaIgnite – Startup World Cup Pitch Competition
| Prize | $1,000,000 investment prize at the 2027 Startup World Cup Grand Finale (2026 competition) source |
|---|
Meeting investors there
Founders meet investors through the event app, curated startup meetings, and ATF Connect’s pre-arranged 1:1 meetings in a dedicated onsite area. source
Before you go: the hub's cold email to VCs playbook covers the pre-event outreach that fills a meeting calendar, and Causo matches your stage and thesis to the funds in its database so you know who to ask for a meeting.
Official links and socials
Prepare for it
- How to cold email VCs — book the meetings before you land.
- The 12-slide seed deck — what to have ready when a partner says "send me the deck".
- Pitch Deck Roaster — a slide-by-slide pass before you submit to AfricaIgnite – Startup World Cup Pitch Competition.
- Accelerator deadlines — the application windows that open around the event.
Sources
Every fact above was read from one of these official pages on Oct 8, 2026:
- africatechfestival.com
- africatechfestival.com/why-attend
- africatechfestival.com/pass-types
- africatechfestival.com/startups-atf
- africatechfestival.com/africaignite/pitch-competition
- africatechfestival.com/experience
- event.africatechfestival.com/event/africa-tech-festival-2026
- event.africatechfestival.com/event/africa-tech-festival-2026/plannings/RXZlbnRWaWV3XzEyNTM3ODE=
- africatechfestival.com/investors