Young Enterprise Initiative South Africa 2020 Cohort to exhibit at AI Expo Africa 2020, Courtesy of French Embassy

The French Embassy in South Africa has announced that the three South African artificial intelligence (AI) startups that were selected last year to participate in its Young Enterprise Initiative South Africa (YEi South Africa) 2020 programme – 3DIMO, Raphta, and Ubiquity AI – will exhibit their solutions and products at AI Expo Africa 2020.

MATHIEU BÉCUE, Attaché for Innovation at meetings that Bécue says are designed the French Embassy, explains that the Yei to allow each laureate to benefit from an Start in France programme – which YEi South extensive customized business network Africa falls under – was founded in 2005 as and connections to the best resources in an accelerator for science startups looking to Europe. The trip has now been postponed to develop and grow their businesses in France October because of the COVID-19 pandemic. and Europe. 3DIMO co-founder Nneile Nkholise says the

The French Embassy then launched Yei YEi South Africa programme has helped her South Africa in 2016 in partnership with the realise the potential her company has to create Technology Innovation Agency (TIA) with the relationships in the French market. Nkholise intention to provide South African startups points out that France has been investing with the opportunity to develop and grow heavily in creating a thriving AI community their businesses in France. South Africa is and creating opportunities for non-French currently the only country on the African tech companies to establish businesses in the continent to benefit from this programme. country.

The French Embassy together with TIA Raphta founder Tshidiso “Although there have been delays in us have now sponsored 3DIMO, Raphta and Radinne fully experiencing the opportunities of YEi Ubiquity to participate at AI Expo Africa 2020 – programme due to Covid-19 pandemic, I’m Africa’s largest AI, Robotic Process Automation thankful that I have been given an opportunity (RPA) and data science trade-focused show and conference to be part of the AI community in South Africa and France. – which will this year be held as a virtual event on 3 and 4 That will benefit the sustainable growth of our company and September. help transform society using emerging opportunities from AI 3DIMO has developed an automated livestock data technology,” she adds. analytics and modelling platform. Raphta offers world-class Raphta founder Tshidiso Radinne says the YEi South Africa pioneering computer vision, facial recognition and imaging programme has catapulted his firm into a “global AI startup”, and technology. Ubiquity AI has over six years commercial assisted the company in executing its Europe, Middle East and experience in Natural Language Processing (NLP) as the first Africa expansion plan by establishing a presence in France – a data-at-rest social analytics consultancy in Africa and the Middle key European market. East. The startup has developed Simone, a chatbot which it “We have a core focus on fundamental and applied research claims to be the world’s first debt intermediator. in cutting edge areas such as the combination of quantum

The Yei 2020 cohort were initially meant to travel imaging and machine learning, and our research partnerships to France for a two week-long immersion trip which with leading French universities through the YEI are vital to our includes training sessions, networking and one-on-one research ecosystems,” adds Radinne. ai