The winning start-ups and representatives from AfricArena.

Five tech start-ups were crowned winners at the AfricArena Johannesburg Summit 2025, which concluded up on Wednesday.

The AfricArena Johannesburg Fintech, Deep Innovation, and Enterprise Summit was held at 22 On Sloane, Africa's largest start-up campus, in Bryanston, in partnership with AWS.

The event recognised Southern Africa's top rising startups for their creative solutions.

A total of 16 businesses demonstrated their arsenal of capabilities, which included outstanding pitching abilities, concise storytelling, pitch decks, and mastery of their numbers.

The winners each received up to $25,000 in AWS Activate credits and were immediately advanced to the major finals at the AfricArena major Summit, which will be held in Cape Town, South Africa in December.

The AfricArena Tour 2025 circuit's second leg will take place on April 30 in Lagos, Nigeria.

Dan Mabbyalas, AfricArise director and AfricArena head of product and programs said:" capable of when a continent backs up, invests in and mentors high quality African-led, African founded tech startups pioneering ground breaking tech solutions capable of transforming lives across Africa and the world. 

"Given the high quality of deal flow, we are excited for the rest of the AfricArena Tour 2025 circuit as we bring Africa’s successful tech story to the world.”

Alexander Hizikias, founder of eQub, expressed his delight at being honoured as the top fintech start-up.

He commented: “The award definitely solidifies our efforts in building inclusive access to finance that will potentially benefit millions of Ethiopians and Africans as a whole.

“It also puts the Ethiopian ecosystem on the map so additionally; it’s great to have received recognition from an esteemed ecosystem representative such as AfricArena.

“We have been pitching across the world for a few years and it’s our first time in AfricArena. There will be more collaborations coming up for sure.”

The winners in the various categories are mentioned below:

• Best Deep Tech & AI Startup Award: CureRoot (South Africa)
• Best Fintech Startup Award: eQub (Ethiopia)
• Best SaaS Startup Award: Funti3r (South Africa)
• Best Agnostic Startup Award: Loop (South Africa)
• Most Promising Entrepreneur Award: SB Card (South Africa)

“Winning the Best Agnostic Award at AfricArena is a significant milestone for Loop. It reaffirms our vision and highlights the impact our solution is making in digitising mobility and payments across Africa,” said Loop’s founder Imtiyaaz Riley.

He added: “This recognition motivates our entire team to continue innovating, growing, and tackling real-world challenges. AfricArena provided an incredible platform – this was our first time pitching at AfricArena, and the experience has been exceptional. We’re excited to pitch at the next leg in Cape Town in December.”