Legazy seeks summit partner

LEGAZY (www.Legazy.co.za) has returned to the 2017 Web Summit.

Legazy, founded by Zuko Tisani, one of the world’s top 350 entrepreneurs under the age of 26, according to the Kairos Society, recently returned from Lisbon with Africa’s largest TMT company, Telkom, and their executives, prepared to purchase a Web Summit conference to be hosted in South Africa for the next three years.

The deal went cold when both parties couldn’t come to an agreement on the numbers. Tisani’s relationship with Web Summit began when he attended the Rise conference in Hong Kong and with platinum band was treated to Web Summit’s hospitality and had dinner discussions with the founder of Web Summit, Paddy Cosgrave and other tech giant Dave McClure from 500 startups. It was at dinner where the offer of $1million (about R13,9 million) was given to Tisani.

Instead of giving up on the hopes of bringing the tech world to Africa, Legazy pivoted and took the largest African delegation to the tech world. Twenty startups and two of their board of investors, one being Lebo Gunguluza, South African judge on Dragons Den, and Stephen Newton, former chief executive of Naspers e-Commerce and Google Africa were present.

Of the 20 startups that exhibited at the Web Summit, most of the South African entrepreneurs were funded by Standard Bank, major partner of Legazy. Because Tisani sits on the advisory board of the Chamber of Commerce of Lisbon and South Africa, he was able to give intimate engagement to all startups from business leaders and incubators in Lisbon.

The stories that have come from the entrepreneurs selected for the excursion are amazing, a lot of them had left South Africa only for the first time.

Legazy continues its pursuit of locking down a major international conference partner for 2018 in South Africa.

Legazy, which mainly focuses on sourcing investment-ready startups, hopes to be the needed gateway for the world to recognise Africa for its beauty and talent.