AND…IT’S A WRAP FOR #WIMBARTOFFICEHOURS3 – SEE YOU NEXT YEAR!
And.. It’s a wrap! Wimbart Office Hours Third edition is now officially closed for 2021…until next year! From choosing the final cohort to planning the webinars, we were glad to have been able to give our 20 chosen startups the knowledge and insight into PR and comms and we can’t wait to see where it takes them!
We started off with applications from across the continent that applied for the programme. It was a tough decision but in the end we confirmed 20 successful applicants who hailed from Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa and Congo.
The programme kicked off with three different expert webinars led by our partners: Kola Aina from Ventures Platform and Muyiwa Matuluko from Techpoint Africa. Attendees were able to ask plenty of questions, and engage through polling systems. The webinar sessions then closed off by an ‘insight into PR’ presentation lead by our very own Wimbart CEO, Jessica Hope.
It was also amazing to see some great social media engagement on Twitter during the Office Hours Webinars by some of our cohort attendees.
Following the webinars/masterclasses, the mentors and mentees were introduced to each other. During the programme, having implemented some of the ideas and tricks of the trade as suggested by our mentors, our first Office Hours post Lockdown proved to be successful with plenty of wins. Start-ups also had the opportunity to connect with our partners to secure further opportunities with them. In terms of press and coverage, we are already reading about some of our cohort in the media – one of our cohort, KOA, were featured on BBC Money Daily and were also able to secure a spot as one of the 20 startup companies pitching at TechCrunch Disrupt 2021. Where startups can pitch on a virtual stage to compete for equity-free prize money and the attention of international press and top investors from around the world. Another one of our cohort, Fashtracker, also won the pitch sessions at TechCabal’s ‘Future of Commerce’ 2021 conference and lets not forget iWello, a telemedicine startup who were featured in Techpoint Africa for their services in making healthcare available for people on low incomes in Nigeria.
We are thrilled about how far Office Hours has come and what we have achieved so far for our startups. Our goal was for these companies to end the programme equipped with the PR knowledge to better position themselves to meet their business goals, whether for investment or customer acquisition. We know they’re building amazing businesses and have stories to tell – our job was to help them sort, curate and tell those stories.
We will soon be adding to our third Wimbart Office Hours cohort to the Alumni Network Slack community, where they can feel free to network and share lessons learnt as well as any opportunities they come across and hopefully collaborate on future projects. We can’t wait to see them grow and improve within the African tech space.
Finally – a massive thanks to our entire #WimbartOfficeHours community in the African technology and start-up space – working together on this programme has been an amazing experience and the entire Wimbart team has loved the ongoing collaboration and sharing of ideas.
To everyone who had a part to play, the Wimbart team, partners and startups and those who shared the opportunity through socials – We appreciate you all !
But for now, we say bye bye to Wimbart Office Hours for now as it’s been real !
Until next year !
