News

Built in Africa, backed in the room: SWEAT Africa co-hosts the Wits Health Sciences Innovation Fair On 24 November, biomedical innovators from across Gauteng put their work in front of the industry partners, investors and funders who can take it further. SWEAT Africa co-hosts with the Wits Faculty of Health Sciences at the Wits BioHub.

Creating a Home for African Health Innovation For African scientists developing new health technologies, the journey towards commercialisation can be challenging. Scientific expertise and promising research do not automatically translate into the business skills, investment, and partnerships needed to bring an innovation to market. Creating those connections was at the heart of a discussion on

SWEAT Africa Strengthens Continental Connections at Pwani Innovation Week in Kenya Engagements in Mombasa bring Kenyan and South African innovation communities together ahead of SWEAT Africa 2027. SWEAT Africa is strengthening its continental network of entrepreneurs, investors, and innovation partners at the seventh edition of Pwani Innovation Week, currently underway in Mombasa, Kenya. The six-day

SWEAT Africa 2027: Calling All Founders, Investors, Researchers, and Students in Africa Africa’s experiential start-up and venture festival returns to Stellenbosch, South Africa, on 16–17 March 2027, expecting over 600 participants from across the continent and beyond. SWEAT Africa is a two-day experiential start-up and venture festival that brings together start-up founders, investors, venture capitalists,

Wits Innovation Meets the SWEAT Africa Ecosystem   At SWEAT Africa 2026, the Wits Innovation Centre hosted a side event that brought nine student-led startups into direct conversation with investors and collaborators. Designed to give founders real exposure, the session created space to pitch, test ideas, and explore partnerships. Five startups – KoldData, NanoBand, HRA

How SWEAT AFRICA Sparks Hire   text: Katrine Anker-Nilssen photo: Supplied For Dr Gestél Kuyler, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO), and Dr Elaine Barnard, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer (COO) of Nanosene, SWEAT was part of a bigger journey. Nanosene attended as part of the Open Startup BRAIN 5.0 cohort, with the event marking the final leg

Wits Researchers Develop New Wound Care Approach Wits Researchers Develop New Wound Care Approach Chronic wounds are a growing healthcare challenge worldwide, often leading to prolonged recovery, repeated hospital visits, infections and, in severe cases, amputations. A research team at the University of the Witwatersrand is developing a potential new solution: NanoBand™. This is a

BRAIN at SWEAT Africa: Strengthening Africa’s Science Venture Pipeline BRAIN at SWEAT Africa: Strengthening Africa’s Science Venture Pipeline   As SWEAT Africa convenes founders, researchers, investors and ecosystem builders from across the continent, partnerships that strengthen the science-to-market journey are central to the platform’s impact. One such collaboration is with Open Startup through its BRAIN

Nanosene: Unlocking the Hardest Proteins in Biology Nanosene: Unlocking the Hardest Proteins in Biology Among the startups attending SWEAT Africa this year is Nanosene, a science-driven company focused on translating academic research into practical tools for drug discovery and life-science research. Founded on PhD research from Stellenbosch University, Nanosene was created to address a persistent

Building With Intent: African DeepTech Steps Forward Building With Intent: African DeepTech Steps Forward From a broad pool of entries across the continent to a tightly contested Top 10, the SWEAT Africa Pitch Competition offered a concentrated look at where African science- and technology-driven entrepreneurship is heading. On Day 2 of the SWEAT Afreica 2026