The inaugural Entertainment Week Africa (EWA) concluded its intensive four-day Deal Room program (November 19–22), successfully positioning itself as a crucial engine for investment in the continent’s creative and tech economies. Dedicated to its theme, “Close the Gap,” the program brought together high-potential African startups, investors, and expert mentors, resulting in actionable outcomes for early-stage companies.
This year’s cohort demonstrated a marked maturity, with mentors focusing on helping the founders tighten their value propositions to successfully close with potential investment offers. Out of 10 initial finalists, 8 high-potential companies completed the full program and pitched to investors, securing crucial follow-up meetings and generating significant investor interest.
Kemdi Ebi, Co-Founder & CEO, EnterFive Inc., and Lead Mentor for the EWA Deal Room, highlighted the impressive progress: “This year’s Deal Room cohort truly raised the bar. Compared to last year, the progress was clear. Founders came in more prepared, more intentional, and far more grounded in building sustainable, investable businesses. We also saw exciting new industries emerge, from art-tech to sports-tech, adding fresh dynamism to the mix we’re already used to. Several startups even arrived with commitments and left with new investment and/or partnership commitments, which speaks to the increased readiness and maturity on display this year. My hope is that the momentum they’ve built here becomes a launchpad for long-term success, shaping the next wave of creative and tech leaders across Africa.”
Aktivate (Martech/Creator Economy), a creator marketing platform, has already generated nearly six figures in revenue and processed over $740,000 in GMV. The company is seeking strategic partners to accelerate growth and market expansion, leveraging Aktivate’s dashboard to streamline brand-creator collaborations. — FriendnPal (HealthTech), Africa’s first predictive, multilingual AI mental health platform, has delivered over 10,000 therapy sessions and intercepted 70 suicide crises. Raising a $500,000 Pre-Seed Round, the platform is using behavioral AI to close Africa’s significant mental health care gap. — Growwr (Future of Work/HRTech) is solving global hiring inefficiencies as an AI-powered work platform connecting vetted African tech talent to global businesses. The company has boasted of very healthy numbers in total revenue as well as monthly recurring revenue, aiming to scale its talent infrastructure into the US market. — SportsReels (Sports/Entertainment), a sports recruitment system, streamlines scouting and transfer processes for youth athletes from emerging markets, with traction including 2.3k emerging talents on the platform.
Standouts in the cohort also included Hafrikplay (Music Tech), a Pan-African music streaming and distribution platform built for independent artists. With a fast-growing user base and strong year-to-date earnings, Hafrikplay is raising a $1M Seed round to launch its distribution arm, Hafrik Distro, across the continent. — Prop’ly (Creative & Entertainment), described as the “Airbnb for props,” is Nigeria’s largest prop rental platform, supporting over 450 productions in 2024. The company is balancing rapid demand from its physical prop house and concept studio while mapping scalable tech solutions, including AI, to broaden its reach. — Lastly, Atsur (Fine Art) is tackling market security by verifying and tracking the ownership history of fine art using AI and blockchain technology, raising a $200,000 Pre-Seed Round to achieve institutional adoption and validate secondary-market liquidity for African art.
One of the standout startups this year, Atsur, has already recorded a major post–EWA Deal Room milestone — winning at the NBA Africa Triple Double Accelerator in Rwanda. The company placed among the top five winners out of ten startups, securing prize funding following a strong pitch performance
The success of the Deal Room program underscores the strong and growing ecosystem committed to African creative and tech ventures. Investors supporting the Deal Room and the parallel Hackathon included a number of active angel investors as well as investors from Future Africa, Askya Investment Partners, Catalyst Fund, and Consonance Invest.
Founder of Entertainment Week Africa, Deola Art Alade, affirmed the festival’s long-term vision: “Our ambition over the coming years is for Entertainment Week Africa to establish itself as a critical part of the economic, intellectual and artistic capital of this great city. We’re delighted with the first steps towards that.”
The next edition of Entertainment Week Africa is scheduled for November 17–22, 2026, promising expanded pan-African programming and a continued commitment to accelerating creative-industry growth.
Registration for EWA 2026 is now open on the website.
