Name: The Startup Pitch: Demo Showcase by Startup Grind
Start: 2026-08-20T21:30:00.000Z
Location: The Yard: Herald Square

Africa's AI Opportunities: The 2026 Update
Navigate Africa's fast-moving tech sector with insights from the ground
In today's global AI landscape, Africa is no longer just catching up - it's carving out distinct advantages. From leapfrogging legacy systems to solving problems that Silicon Valley hasn't prioritized, the continent's AI story continues to evolve at breakneck speed.

We are proud to have Laryx Ochieng Kosgei, Founder of The Nunomol Hub and Chapter Director of Startup Grind Eldoret, back for our third annual deep dive into Africa's AI ecosystem. With hands-on experience building AI solutions across the continent and connecting African innovators to global networks, Laryx will share what's actually happening on the ground in 2026 - beyond the headlines.

📅 Date: Thursday, 30 July 2026⏰ Time: 7:00 PM HKT / 2:00 PM EAT / 1:00 PM CET📍 Location: Online (Virtual Event)

🎤 Meet the Speaker

Laryx Ochieng Kosgei is the Founder of The Nunomol Hub, Nunomol DigiTech and Chapter Director of Startup Grind Eldoret, Kenya. As an AI strategist and educator, he helps startups across Africa unlock AI's potential - from smarter automation to better decision-making.&nbsp;

Over the past two years, Laryx has become a trusted voice for tracking Africa's AI evolution, combining on-the-ground insights with strategic partnerships that connect African innovators to global opportunities.

💡 What You'll Learn

✅ The most significant AI developments in Africa over the past year
✅ Real-world case studies of African startups succeeding with AI
✅ Where funding and partnership opportunities are concentrated in 2026
✅ Emerging AI applications uniquely positioned for African markets
✅ Key connections and resources to accelerate your AI journey

🎯 Who Should Attend?

🚀 Founders exploring AI opportunities in or with African markets
📈 Investors and partners looking for emerging AI plays in Africa
🎤 Tech professionals seeking to understand Africa's AI landscape
📢 Anyone who attended our 2024 or 2025 sessions and wants the latest update

🚀 Don't Miss Out! Get the 2026 update from Africa's AI frontlines.
📌 RSVP now to secure your spot

Agenda

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Speaker

Laryx Ochieng - The Nunomol Hub (Founder)

"From mentoring startups and SMEs to shaping AI education through The Nunomol Hub in collaboration with The Cube Innovation Hub (https://the-cube.co.ke/), my mission is simple: to make AI practical, accessible, and transformative across Africa."
Laryx is a dedicated AI Consultant, Advocate, and Thought Leader with a…

Hosted By

Jens Wernborg, Director

Over 25 years of experience doing business with companies in Hong Kong, China and India across a wide range of industries.

Have worked with companies to successfully increase sales, save costs through purchasing and outsourcing, establish local presences, recruit and train staff and use digitalization to improve their productivity.

Always looking for ways to streamline and make businesses more efficient using digital tools and services. Knows how to get things done.

Margaret Leung, Co-Director

Margaret is a seasoned Business Consultant and Project/Event Manager who helps foreign companies, both large and small, develop new business and expand in Hong Kong and Greater China. She also has over 20 years of experience in curating and managing events such as seminars, exhibitions, and official-cum-business delegations across multiple industries. This involves working closely with government officials, C-level executives, and collaborating with project team members from different countries and cultures.

Since joining the Startup Grind team in October 2017, Margaret has been deeply inspired by the dynamic energy of the startup ecosystem. She is passionate about community building and fostering meaningful connections among entrepreneurs and professionals.

Amrit Sethi, Startup Grind Moderator

Guest moderator Startup Grind Hong Kong.

Over 30 years of experience helping clients explore the world and make travel stress free.

Individual and corporate travel. Specialist groups, cruises, tours, worldwide hotels, sightseeing, sport competitions. Visa services in Hong Kong.

I combine my teams expertise with a personal touch to ensure that your travel plans meet your needs and wishes while eliminating all the hassle.

Marin Magré, Ambassador

A Frenchman who grew up in Poland, studied in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and started a coffee business in Guatemala before deciding to go back to Hong Kong to be closer to the world of Tech and AI.
My strengths are my international and broad vision combined with a keen sense for operational detail, my fearless go-getter attitude and my attraction to building mutually beneficial relationships.
Excited to be part of the SG community to learn and grow alongside inspiring and innovating people seeking to make a positive impact!

Keith Engine, Mentor

Life is too short to... I love to explore new things - globetrotter, bookworm, and you can see me in most of the startup events in Hong Kong (and beyond) - hunt me! Besides Startup Grind, I was the organizer of Startup Weekend and AngelHack. Some topics can get my immediate attention: emerging technologies, youth entrepreneurship, corporate innovation, startup ecosystem in Asia Pacific. I'm approachable, so, feel free to drop me a message on LinkedIn!

Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs. We host monthly events in more than 600 cities and 125+ countries featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who share personal stories and lessons learned on the road to building great companies. Our monthly fireside chat interviews, startup mixers and annual conferences provide ample opportunities to connect with amazing startups and the people behind them, tap into a strong support network, form meaningful connections and gain inspiration for the startup journey ahead. For more information visit StartupGrind.com or follow us on twitter @StartupGrind.
---

Complete your event RSVP here: https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-hong-kong-presents-africas-ai-opportunities-the-2026-update-with-laryx-ochieng-kosgei/.

Startup Grind Hong Kong

Startup Grind 

ericmeetupchan

Tokhirbek Aminjonov

zhongchristopher154

Africa's AI Opportunities: The 2026 Update - with Laryx Ochieng Kosgei

Online event

This is the monthly Startup Grind tech mixer. It's a low-key way to **connect with the NYC tech and startup community** to discover shared interests, explore areas for collaboration, and find your next co-founder or key hire.

​Join us for a casual happy hour to build real relationships and make friends, not just contacts. **No pitches. No presentations. No agenda.**

​**This happy hour is for:**

* ​Startup Founders & Employees
* ​Technologists, Developers & Tech Workers
* ​Product Managers & Designers
* ​Investors, VCs, Advisors & Mentors
* ​Anyone curious about the NYC tech scene

​
**Agenda:**

* ​5:00 PM: Happy Hour starts. Come and go as you please.

​
We're at the new **[Time Out Market at Union Square](https://www.timeout.com/time-out-market-union-square?utm_source=luma)**. It features a selection of the city's best food and drink together under one roof, offering a wide variety of options to choose from throughout the event.

​**Look for Startup Grind table signs toward the back near the outdoor terrace.**

Startup Grind NYC

Joshua Ness

Karuna Srivastava

Reda Benyass

carson.mc.miles

Tenzin

Amitava

Avaneesh Babu

Rutika

Sally Witwer

Susanna Speier

Derek Schultz

Jadyn Calkins

vcheruvu

umer

Paul Sundue

Drew Tucker

Sunny 

Simon

Tech Happy Hour by Startup Grind

Time Out Market Union Square

**👉 [CLICK HERE](https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-new-york-city-presents-the-ai-briefing-by-startup-grind-agentic-governance/) TO RSVP FOR FREE 👈**

The AI Briefing is a recurring **AI deep-dive for decision-makers.**
Each month, we select one high-signal industry report, circulate it in advance, and meet to cut through the noise.

📜 **This Month's Source:** [The AI Agent Governance Gap: What CISOs Need Now](https://labs.cloudsecurityalliance.org/research/csa-research-note-ai-agent-governance-framework-gap-20260403/) (*Cloud Security Alliance AI Safety Initiative – Apr 2026*)

Gartner projects that **40% of enterprise applications will embed task-specific AI agents** by the end of 2026, up from less than 5% in 2025. However, it's becoming clear that **governance hasn't kept pace** with that curve.

A 2026 survey of CISOs and CIOs at large enterprises found that **92% of them lack full visibility into their own AI agent identities**. 95% doubt they could detect or contain a compromised agent if one turned up.

**That leaves a real gap for enterprises deploying agents today.**

No enforceable standard exists yet, and the frameworks most organizations already lean on (*NIST AI RMF, ISO 42001, the EU AI Act*) were built for AI that responds to a prompt, **not for AI that plans and takes action** across outside systems on its own.

**🏔️ The Mission:** Who owns the agent when it acts?

* This session is co-hosted with [Lazy 8 AI](https://luma.com/lazy8?k=c), an engineering collective focused on the transition from manual coding to managing autonomous AI systems.
* We'll use the report's own gaps, especially around identity and incident response, as the anchor for a broader conversation: what readiness actually looks like when the standards bodies are still a year or more behind the deployments.

**📊 The Format:**

* **We'll open with the numbers:** 92% of CISOs and CIOs blind to their own agent identities, and a standards timeline that leaves them on their own well into 2026.
* **The room debates the report's own recommendations:** agent inventories, least-privilege credentials, agent-specific incident response. What's realistic for a team that's already stretched, and what's closer to theater.

**🤝 Who Should Attend:**

* **Enterprise Executives:** Understand the exposure your organization is carrying right now, before a standard exists to measure against, and what following best practice will need to mean when a regulator or a board comes knocking.
* **Product, Data, and Operations Leads:** Compare notes on what you're actually doing today to track agent identity, permissions, and incident response, and where the gap between what leadership assumes and what's built is widest.
* **Founders & Builders:** See where the governance tooling gap is actually a product opportunity, and why the report's own commercial incentives should make you skeptical of framework adoption as the automatic answer.

**📬 The Prep:** This is a working session. Review the report [here](https://labs.cloudsecurityalliance.org/research/csa-research-note-ai-agent-governance-framework-gap-20260403/). Bring your perspective.

**👉 [CLICK HERE](https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-new-york-city-presents-the-ai-briefing-by-startup-grind-agentic-governance/) TO RSVP FOR FREE 👈**

The AI Briefing by Startup Grind - Agentic Governance

Civic Hall

In It for the Long Run
Building a Global AI Startup Without a Tech Background

How do you take the step from corporate to founder? Not in theory - in practice.
- How do you build the first version of your app without a technical background?
- How do you find your first customers with no marketing budget?
- How do you scale AI while keeping the "human touch" to ensure accuracy?

We're excited to welcome Thomas Butter, Founder & CEO of Movaia, to this Startup Grind Hong Kong event. After 15 years in corporate roles, Thomas founded Movaia — an AI-powered sportstech startup in Hong Kong.

Movaia uses computer vision to analyze running form from a smartphone video, helping runners get faster and avoid injuries — without expensive lab visits. In this fireside chat, Thomas will share what he learned making the leap — from finding first customers to scaling AI with humans in the loop.

📅 Date: Thursday, 20 August⏰ Time: 7:00 PM HKT / 1:00 PM CET📍 Location: Online (Virtual Event)

🎤 Meet the Speaker

Thomas Butter is the Founder and CEO of Movaia, a Hong Kong-based sportstech startup that uses AI to analyze and improve running form. A veteran of the corporate world, Thomas spent 15 years leading global business lines and award-winning product launches before a personal running injury exposed a critical gap in the market: professional biomechanics analysis was inaccessible to the average runner.

Breaking the mold of the typical AI founder, Thomas is a non-technical solo entrepreneur. He combined his background as an athlete and certified running coach with a vision for accessible tech to solve the injury crisis that affects 65% of runners annually.

He built Movaia from a concept into an AI-powered platform serving over 4,000 users across the US, UK, and Hong Kong—achieved almost entirely without paid marketing. The company is part of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks (HKSTP) incubation programme.

Thomas is passionate about making performance analysis accessible to every runner, not just elite athletes. His approach — combining computer vision with human verification — reflects a founder who values getting it right over moving fast.

💡 What You'll Learn

✅ How to transition from a corporate career to startup founder
✅ Why launching an alpha version early beats waiting for perfection
✅ How to use human-in-the-loop validation to build trust in your AI
✅ What it takes to find your first customers with no marketing budget
✅ The value of building local — even when your ambition is global

🎯 Who Should Attend?

🚀 Startup founders building AI-powered products or services
📈 Corporate professionals considering the leap to entrepreneurship
🧠 Founders navigating early-stage growth with limited resources and no technical co-founder
🎤 Anyone curious about how AI startups actually work behind the scenes

🚀 Don't miss this opportunity to learn how one founder turned a personal injury into an AI startup.

📌 RSVP now to secure your spot

Agenda

---

Speaker

Thomas Butter - Movaia (Founder & CEO)

Thomas Butter is the Founder and CEO of Movaia, a Hong Kong-based sportstech startup that uses AI to analyze and improve running form. A veteran of the corporate world, Thomas spent 15 years leading global business lines and award-winning product launches before a personal running injury exposed a critical gap in the market: professional biomechanics analysis was inaccessible to the average ru…

Hosted By

Jens Wernborg, Director

Over 25 years of experience doing business with companies in Hong Kong, China and India across a wide range of industries.

Have worked with companies to successfully increase sales, save costs through purchasing and outsourcing, establish local presences, recruit and train staff and use digitalization to improve their productivity.

Always looking for ways to streamline and make businesses more efficient using digital tools and services. Knows how to get things done.

Margaret Leung, Co-Director

Margaret is a seasoned Business Consultant and Project/Event Manager who helps foreign companies, both large and small, develop new business and expand in Hong Kong and Greater China. She also has over 20 years of experience in curating and managing events such as seminars, exhibitions, and official-cum-business delegations across multiple industries. This involves working closely with government officials, C-level executives, and collaborating with project team members from different countries and cultures.

Since joining the Startup Grind team in October 2017, Margaret has been deeply inspired by the dynamic energy of the startup ecosystem. She is passionate about community building and fostering meaningful connections among entrepreneurs and professionals.

Amrit Sethi, Startup Grind Moderator

Guest moderator Startup Grind Hong Kong.

Over 30 years of experience helping clients explore the world and make travel stress free.

Individual and corporate travel. Specialist groups, cruises, tours, worldwide hotels, sightseeing, sport competitions. Visa services in Hong Kong.

I combine my teams expertise with a personal touch to ensure that your travel plans meet your needs and wishes while eliminating all the hassle.

Marin Magré, Ambassador

A Frenchman who grew up in Poland, studied in Hong Kong and Taiwan, and started a coffee business in Guatemala before deciding to go back to Hong Kong to be closer to the world of Tech and AI.
My strengths are my international and broad vision combined with a keen sense for operational detail, my fearless go-getter attitude and my attraction to building mutually beneficial relationships.
Excited to be part of the SG community to learn and grow alongside inspiring and innovating people seeking to make a positive impact!

Keith Engine, Mentor

Life is too short to... I love to explore new things - globetrotter, bookworm, and you can see me in most of the startup events in Hong Kong (and beyond) - hunt me! Besides Startup Grind, I was the organizer of Startup Weekend and AngelHack. Some topics can get my immediate attention: emerging technologies, youth entrepreneurship, corporate innovation, startup ecosystem in Asia Pacific. I'm approachable, so, feel free to drop me a message on LinkedIn!

---

Global Partner

Carta (http://www.carta.com/launch?utm_campaign=20240423-nam-general-smb-startup_grind_partnership&utm_medium=social&utm_source=startup_grind)
Carta helps people manage equity, build businesses, and invest in the companies of tomorrow. Carta Launch is the only free cap table product, helping new founders get started. The company is trusted by more than 40,000 companies, over 7,000 funds and SPVs, and over two million equity holders to manage cap tables, compensation, valuations, liquidity, and more. For more information, visit carta.com.

Startup Grind is a global startup community designed to educate, inspire, and connect entrepreneurs. We host monthly events in more than 600 cities and 125+ countries featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who share personal stories and lessons learned on the road to building great companies. Our monthly fireside chat interviews, startup mixers and annual conferences provide ample opportunities to connect with amazing startups and the people behind them, tap into a strong support network, form meaningful connections and gain inspiration for the startup journey ahead. For more information visit StartupGrind.com or follow us on twitter @StartupGrind.
---

Complete your event RSVP here: https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-hong-kong-presents-in-it-for-the-long-run-with-thomas-butter/.

In It for the Long Run - with Thomas Butter

🚨 **[CLICK HERE](https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-new-york-city-presents-the-startup-pitch-demo-showcase-7/)** to RSVP 👈

It's time to **go beyond the deck and see the best live tech** from New York's emerging startups.

​Welcome to a pitch event with a twist. We skip the fluff and focus on what matters: **a live look at real products**.

​This pitch & demo showcase gives you a first look at new technology from startups that are actively building and shipping product — **sometimes even before VCs have seen them!**

🚨 **[CLICK HERE](https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-new-york-city-presents-the-startup-pitch-demo-showcase-7/)** to RSVP 👈

​The format is fast-paced and interactive. After each demo, the floor is open for questions, ideas, and honest feedback from the community.
​
**We welcome investors who want an unfiltered look at new technology and early-stage teams.**

* ​📅 Date: Thursday, August 20th
* ​🕓 Time: 5:30 PM - 7:30 PM
* ​📍 Venue: The Yard: Herald Square
* ​🎫 Tickets: Only $5 (*includes happy hour refreshments)*
* ​📑 Founders: **[Sign up here](https://forms.gle/A7LsswmLwwrQi3Jh7?utm_source=luma)** to apply to pitch at an upcoming event

🚨 **[CLICK HERE](https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-new-york-city-presents-the-startup-pitch-demo-showcase-7/)** to RSVP 👈

​**WHO SHOULD ATTEND**

* ​Startups ready to demo a real product and get honest feedback
* ​Engineers, PMs, and designers who love seeing new tech in action
* ​Investors looking for a ground-floor, early look at local startups
* ​Anyone in the NYC tech scene who wants to connect with and support the people building things

​**AGENDA**

* ​5:30 PM: Doors Open & Networking
* ​6:00 PM: Startup Pitches & Demos with Audience Q&A
* ​7:00 PM: Meet the Presenting Startups

​**PITCH FORMAT**

* ​Pitch & Demo - 6 minutes
* ​Audience Q&A - 4 minutes
* ​Pitch deck AND product demo are required

🚨 **[CLICK HERE](https://www.startupgrind.com/events/details/startup-grind-new-york-city-presents-the-startup-pitch-demo-showcase-7/)** to RSVP 👈

The Startup Pitch: Demo Showcase by Startup Grind

The Yard: Herald Square

Startup Grind

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Startup Grind is the largest independent startup community, actively educating, inspiring, and connecting entrepreneurs globally in partnership with Google for Startups. The cornerstone of our global community are monthly events featuring successful local founders, innovators, educators and investors who share lessons learned on the road to building great companies. Founded in Silicon Valley, Startup Grind has helped millions of entrepreneurs build their businesses, connect with strategic partners, and secure funding.

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