Let's Meet Up in partnership with Punch by MCB

🌟 La Plage Factory August Community update 🌟 

Another great month has gone by at La Plage Factory, and we are pleased to share our latest newsletter with you.  

This month, we’ve been busy fostering connections, supporting local innovators, and creating exciting opportunities for collaboration. From supporting our Growth and Innovation Cohort to reiterating the importance of early-stage investment mechanisms through a range of initiatives, we’re proud to see the startup ecosystem in Mauritius growing stronger every day. Here's a look at what we've been up to! 

🌟Let’s Meet up highlights 

As tradition goes, we welcomed our community members at our cozy courtyard at the heart of the capital last Friday. Our Let’s Meet Up! events are designed to offer a platform where innovative and creative minds can meet, share ideas, and work on solutions that contribute to the local economy and society. 

This month, we hosted the MCB Punch team. This innovative platform originates from the Mauritius Commercial Bank’s ‘Lokal is Beautiful’ philosophy, which has been designed to support and promote local businesses. In the current economic context, small business owners face even more challenges. Punch.mu offers a timely, convenient and free online community and solution by providing resources, access to business health checks, growth cards, financing opportunities and expanding their network.  

As a tech and impact-driven African incubator, we are particularly happy to see innovation happening within corporations in Mauritius. Many thanks to Punch’s Jean-François Mootoosamy and Kelly Ng-Lun for a great presentation and to Kathila Acharuz and Shavin Kissoondharry for joining us. 

We were equally pleased to welcome representatives from our key partners such as the Centre des Jeunes Dirigeants (CJD), CCI France Maurice (CCIFM), La French Tech Mauritius , the Mauritius Africa FinTech Hub (MAFH), Mo Angels and #Novaterra.

A few special guests also attended our Let’s Meet Up! Thanks to L. Amedee Darga , David Ramsay (BCom, MBA, MSY) , Eugenie Rousset , Franck Da Costa , Nicolas Lemaire and to Patricia L. for joining us on this occasion and for bringing even more value to our community. 

🚀 La Plage Factory Monthly Highlights  

La Plage Factory's team had an incredible time working on a range of exciting “ecosystem” initiatives in August, all while staying aligned with their mission to empower local entrepreneurs. The collaborative energy and shared passion for innovation have made these efforts both fulfilling and impactful. We look forward to continuing this momentum in the months ahead! 

The Evolution of the Mauritian Start-up Ecosystem – insights from Managing Director Michel Cordani 

A major highlight for us? Our Managing Director, @Michel Cordani, was featured in BIZweek , an innovative digital media platform that covers key issues such as geopolitics, economy and finance. In his interview, Michel delved into our absolute favourite subjects: startups and innovation.  

The piece offers insights on the evolution of the Mauritian start-up ecosystem over the past few years and explores ideas and strategies to help position Mauritius as an Innovation and Investment Hub in the region. Michel also touched on our role as an incubator in supporting these local and regional ambitions. Enjoy the read here!  

What role can South African talents play in fueling innovation and growth in Mauritius? 

Over the last decades and even more so recently, Mauritius has witnessed an influx of South African nationals, bringing with them a wealth of knowledge, financial capital, with a few driven by a strong desire to make meaningful contributions to the local economy. Their diverse expertise across several sectors, combined with an entrepreneurial spirit, is driving innovation and fostering collaboration within the tech community. This influx not only strengthens the local talent pool but also opens new opportunities for growth, positioning Mauritius as an increasingly attractive destination for investment and development.  

Join us in welcoming Hans Zeitman who hails from South Africa and has joined our Growth and Innovation Cohort. Hans is the founder of Kunjani.co an EdTech solution that combines collaboration platforms such as Microsoft Teams with game-based learning to onboard, upskill and engage the workforce.  

The importance of Ease of Doing Business for Startuppers 

Navigating the administrative landscape in Mauritius can be challenging for entrepreneurs. Support from the Economic Development Board Mauritius (EDB), efficient visa processes, streamlined bank account creation, and ideally a one-stop-shop (“guichet unique”) for administrative procedures would significantly enhance their ease of doing business. 

This would reduce barriers to entry and allow entrepreneurs to focus on innovating and growing their businesses, particularly those who come to Mauritius to establish startups, settle their families, and manage their wealth.  

This is essential to foster a more conducive environment for innovation and entrepreneurship, helping Mauritius achieve its goal of becoming a leading Innovation and Investment Hub in the region. 

🔹 Startup highlights 

August also saw the official launch of two of our startups - Thibaut Walle ’s Alaprann.mu and Julien Gonnin ’s digitalgo .  

Alaprann.mu, a local EdTech startup, is tackling a significant challenge in Mauritius’ education system—language barriers. By offering school curriculum content in Mauritian Creole, Alaprann.mu is providing a much-needed solution to the high failure rate among students. As they embark on this important mission, they’re actively seeking partnerships to expand their reach and impact. Do reach out to Thibaut Walle if you would like to support his initiative and help Mauritian students achieve their full potential.  

DigitalGo was also launched in August! As the first Mauritian Programmatic Advertising Network, DigitalGo is a prime example of an innovative tech solution that meets a critical need, ensuring product-market fit and that local ad budgets are spent locally. Their brilliant launch event highlighted the crucial role that local digital solutions play in fostering a robust and sustainable local digital economy. 

It’s exciting to see up-and-coming innovators like #DigitalGo’s Julien Gonnin connecting with other innovators and stakeholders, boosting collaboration, and driving mutual growth in the local business landscape. This spirit of support is key to strengthening Mauritius' entrepreneurial ecosystem. 

🗓️Ecosystem updates 

• Early-stage investment is crucial for advancing the Mauritian and African startup ecosystems. Mo Angels , Mauritius’ leading angel investor network, worked on a range of public-private partnership initiatives recently to promote this cause, which we fully support. Find our more here. 
•  In June, MITCO Group and Bank One hosted Indian Ocean Islands Venture Capital and family office investors to highlight the benefits of angel investing.
• In July, Mo Angels partnered with the India Africa Business Network for the 4th India-Africa Entrepreneurship and Investment Summit, where our Managing Director, Michel CORDANI, discussed internationalising the Mauritian startup ecosystem and led a workshop on early-stage funding.
• As we gear up for the Africa Early-Stage Investor Summit (AESIS) due to take place on 28-29 November in Cape Town, we look forward to another Mauritius-based event on this important topic, due to take place in early October. 
• The #AfriLabs’ Annual Gathering 2024 is set to take place from 5-8 November at Cape Town International Convention Centre (CTICC). Africa’s innovative potential has been limited by a lack of collaboration among its thinkers. The Annual Gathering 2024 aims to bridge this gap by uniting innovators, policymakers, investors, startups, and thought leaders from around the world to amplify their impact under the theme “Uniting Innovation.”
• Also happening on 12-14 November in Cape Town is the #AfricaTechFestival 2024! With over 15,000+ attendees from across the continent and the world, Africa Tech Festival is the perfect place to learn about the latest trends in technology, network with industry leaders, and find new opportunities. We welcome the EDB's plans to secure a booth for Mauritius and hope that some of our startups will benefit from this great opportunity to pitch and hopefully raise funds.

🌐Get in Touch 

Interested in engaging with La Plage Factory as a startup, partner, sponsor, or mentor?  

• Visit our website at www.laplage.io  

• Contact us at hello@laplage.io  

• Join us at our next monthly Meet Up at Coworking Port Louis on 27 September at lunch time! 

• Do all three 😉 

“Let's build a brighter future together for Mauritius, Africa, and the world! 🌍”