TwoCents
Are there any African startups that are not so well known that you feel deserve more exposure/visibility?
Yes, definitely. Now I can't name them one by one but every now and then as a journalist, I hear about what a company is doing and I wonder why they don't have more visibility.
It might be because the company intentionally wants to stay under the radar, so they don't talk much or announce their milestones. That's fine. Being more visible is an intentional act that involves a lot of effort. Many times, the nature of the founder or founding team towards publicity tends to rub off on how the company approaches the media.
It might also be a result of a disconnect between how they're explaining their story to the media. Often we'll get pitches that don't really say anything about why a company is noteworthy or in some cases, it's even difficult to understand what these companies even do. Startups have to make a compelling case, talk about their impact and quantify it.
As a journalist, it's also important for us to seek out these startups and tell their stories. Every now and then we tend to do that. We're constantly asking ourselves, other people and listening to conversations for what we might be missing or should be covering.
Of course, we have different editorial objectives to meet so it means we can't just always share the story of every startup because it 'deserves' more exposure. There's a lot happening and we have to balance sharing useful information on different things that are happening.
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