Press Release 
October 15, 2025

Leading Nordic start-up event to host first ever satellite meeting in South Africa 

Latitude59, Estonia’s flagship startup and technology event, is launching its first Cape Town satellite in November, bringing South African and Estonian founders, investors, and ecosystem leaders together for an evening of cross‑border innovation and collaboration.

Latitude59 is widely recognised as one of Europe’s most impactful startup and technology events, drawing thousands of innovators, investors, and policy leaders annually to explore digital transformation, sustainable tech, and global collaboration. 

The Latitude59 Cape Town edition, to be held on 12 November, forms part of the official programme of the annual Africa Tech Festival that runs from 10-13 November at the CTICC. 

Liisi Org, CEO of Latitude59, says the Cape Town event on 12 November is designed to highlight existing synergies between two dynamic ecosystems, and to forge partnerships that seek to drive the advancement of local tech startup and innovation as a catalyst for economic growth.

“Estonia has shown that a population of just 1.3 million people can lead in digital innovation and build unicorns on a global stage. Cape Town was selected because of its mature ecosystem, strong talent base, and reputation as a gateway between Africa and global investment capital,” Org explains.

Latitude59 events are targeted at early-stage founders, angel and early-stage investors, accelerators/incubators, corporate innovation teams, and government or ecosystem enablers interested in Africa‑Europe collaboration. “This event is about making connections, sharing journeys, and building bridges beyond borders,” she says.

Latitude59’s African expansion tripled in size

Org says the Cape Town event forms part of Latitude59’s broader Africa engagement strategy, following its success in Kenya over the past two years. In December this year, Nairobi will again play host to the third annual Latitude59 Kenya event. This first-in-Africa event has tripled in size, with more than 3,500 participants from across Africa and Europe expected to attend this year’s meeting.

“The Latitude59 Cape Town satellite offers a more intimate, strategic touchpoint ahead of that broader pan-African gathering in Kenya. This evening event presents a chance for in-depth conversations, founder stories, and catalysing partnerships that might otherwise take months to form,” Org explains. 

Estonia’s Ambassador to Kenya and South Africa, Daniel Schaer, and keynote speaker at the Cape Town event, emphasises the critical role of global founder networks as enablers and catalysts for growth at a regional level. “Latitude59’s primary objective is to unlock funding and global visibility for ambitious ventures,” he says.

“When South African entrepreneurial energy meets Estonia’s world-leading digital know-how, we’re not just exchanging ideas – we’re building ecosystems. Founders thrive when they connect across borders, share lessons, and turn challenges into opportunities, and Cape Town is the perfect place for this dialogue,” Schaer adds.

Bridging the startup funding gap 

Since 2022, Latitude59 Pitch Competition winners have collectively raised over €20 million in investment, demonstrating the Latitude59 platform’s ability to catapult the launch and scale startups across geographies. In 2025, the major Latitude59 pitch awards ranged between €175,000 and €250,000 per startup.

South Africa’s tech ecosystem is among the most developed on the continent, with over 490 tech startups recorded in 2022 employing more than 11,000 people. The fintech sector alone accounts for roughly one-third of the tech startup base. However, local founders face systemic challenges, such as funding constraints and volatile funder appetite, infrastructure and operational complexity, resource limitations, and survival pressure for early-stage startups.

Latitude59 hopes to help bridge these gaps by convening key players, facilitating investor–startup matchups, and enabling cross-border knowledge transfer, Latitude59 can help mitigate these gaps. Founders can explore European funding, learn from mature ecosystems, and build partnerships beyond local constraints.

The Cape Town evening programme will run from 17:00 to 22:00 and will include a founder panel discussion, startup pitching, insights into Estonia’s e‑Residency programme, and networking sessions. The event is co‑hosted by Latitude59 and the Estonian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and is partially funded by the European Union’s Next Generation EU programme.

Attendees will gain direct access to European investors interested in emerging markets, engage with founders who have already scaled across continents, and explore pathways for regulatory, infrastructure, and capital partnerships aligned with South Africa’s challenges.

In May this year, Latitude59 marked its 13th edition in Tallinn, Estonia. This growing annual event hosted 170 speakers and attracted over 3 500 participants, including more than 900 startup representatives and nearly 700 investors. This year’s event welcomed participants from more than 70 different countries worldwide, and hosted 20 official national delegations. 

Registration for the Cape Town event is available here. Photos of Latitude59 Kenya Edition 2024 at Nairobi, Kenya can be seen here.