The twenty entrepreneurs from key IT sectors including hardware, fintech, mobile and edtech, who were selected from more than 200 applicants for a week long exploratory business trip to Silicon Valley, say they want to make the most of the unique opportunity. The group will be the first African delegation to attend the Silicon Valley Open Doors Conference in the event's 11-year history.

Lungisa Matshoba, Technology and Product Director at Yoco says he will use the trip, organised by Investec, the Entrepreneurship Development Trust and E-nnovate, to build onto his network of contacts. "From my perspective there are a number of things that make this an exciting and interesting trip. The one is that some of the most impactful moments in our business have taken place because of trips to Silicon Valley. That area has specific significance for our business and we have raised some of our investment from there and, as one looks into the future, we will look to make more contacts from a fundraising perspective. Other benefits include exposure to how other companies at similar stages to ourselves from the US and South Africa are doing things."

Matshoba says he is also keen to hear from startups who have already succeeded.

Open Doors is a boutique technology investment conference attended by more than 600 global startup founders, angel investors and VCs among others. Three members of the delegation are among the 35 pre-selected startups from around the world who will pitch on stage during the conference.

Also attending the Conference, Francois Liebenberg, Marketing Director at Pocketslip says the trip is also a great opportunity to showcase technology ideas of African origin. "There is a lot of great tech that is being developed in South Africa that the world is not aware of. I think this gives exposure and I hope to get international partnerships from the trip. I'm really interested to find out what international funders think of the product and to perhaps scale it to international territories as well with international partners."

Liebenberg also expressed his wish for technology entrepreneurs in other African countries to be given the opportunity to attend Open Doors in the future.

The technology entrepreneurs going on this leg of the trip will also spend time with divisions at Google and Facebook HQ.

Stephen Koseff, CEO of Investec has hailed the initiative. "Our business was born out of a strong entrepreneurial spirit. This ethos is lived in the way we practice business every day. For us as Investec, it is vital to develop the skills and opportunities for entrepreneurs."