The journey from a compelling creative concept to a scalable, investment-ready business is often fraught with friction. For founders building ventures in Africa’s rapidly expanding creative economy, the challenge is twofold: securing capital that understands the unique market dynamics and acquiring the strategic discipline needed to think globally.
This is the gap the Entertainment Week Africa Deal Room was specifically designed to close. Functioning as an intense, three-day accelerator, the Deal Room is a launchpad for entrepreneurs in tech, music, film, and fashion, strengthening their business models and connecting them with a curated network of investors and seasoned operators. With a track record of helping over 16 startups become investment-ready and raising over $1 million in funding, the program is becoming a critical infrastructure piece for the continent’s creative-tech ecosystem.
The accelerator program’s foundation rests on the philosophy that transformative ideas require transformative support.
Kemdi Ebi, Co-founder and Director at Enterfive Limited, and the EWA Deal Room lead mentor, articulates this mission with piercing clarity: “As a founder who built a first-of-its-kind innovation, I know how challenging it can be to bridge the gap between vision and investment. The EWA Deal Room exists to make that journey easier, helping creative founders scale those hurdles faster by learning directly from seasoned operators and investors.”
For Tiwa Medubi, Managing Director of Livespot360, the Deal Room is defined by its selective ambition. “The Deal Room at Entertainment Week Africa is a home for bold founders, visionary investors, and new ideas that deserve to be seen. It is where ambition meets possibility. Whether you’re a creative entrepreneur looking to unlock capital or an investor seeking meaningful growth opportunities, this is your invitation to be part of Africa’s creative future.”
For the founders, the experience was less about pitching and more about rigorous strategic refinement.
Bukunola Bolajoko, Founder of 1101 Technologies, whose modular carbon capture system, Libran, addresses Africa’s industrial CO₂ challenges, highlights the shift from technical excellence to commercial narrative. “The Deal Room was transformative, expanding my view from day-to-day operations to the broader business ecosystem.” Bolajoko, whose company secured a key investor connection and a pitch competition shortlisting directly from the program, stresses the critical lesson: “Technical excellence must be paired with a compelling commercial narrative and clear execution pathways to achieve global scale.”
This sentiment was echoed by Joshua OYENEKAN, Founder of Synewxve, a platform allowing music businesses to sell exclusives directly to superfans. “Numbers are good, but the story around those numbers are better,” OYENEKAN states, affirming the program’s focus on globally acceptable storytelling formats. He notes the program’s unique value proposition: “The EWA Deal Room is largely a learning experience, and these learnings are what some other bodies that will offer much less will charge you money or equity for.”
Perhaps the most impactful takeaways were not about the pitch deck, but about the founder’s inner resilience and clarity of purpose.
Tele Lawal, Founder of the e-commerce fashion platform Kouture Paradisé, describes the program as “such an intense and informative incubator.” She pinpoints a crucial moment of personal growth driven by the lead mentor: “Kemdi challenged our motives, and that really shifted my mindset. He reminded us that if, as a founder, you don’t truly have the heart for your business, you won’t have longevity.”
This profound realization fueled a period of extraordinary growth for Kouture Paradisé, which has since grown its team, launched international sales across the US, UK, and Sweden, and secured a pivotal partnership with DHL and Fez Delivery, a direct connection made during Entertainment Week Africa. Lawal’s advice to new entrants is practical and real: “Don’t be disheartened if the session lead challenges or even rips (your pitch deck) apart, that’s part of the process and how you sharpen your story.”
The EWA Deal Room is proving that with the right structure, mentorship, and connections, Africa’s boldest creative visions can, and will, scale the investment hurdles to become transformative global businesses.
This year, the Deal Room returns to Entertainment Week Africa (EWA 2025), offering a new cohort of founders the chance to follow in these footsteps. If you are building a scalable creative venture, whether in tech, music, film, or fashion, and are ready to move from vision to capital, your journey begins now. Entries for the 2025 cohort close strictly on October 31, 2025.
The Deal Room serves as a non-negotiable step for ambitious creative entrepreneurs.
Bolajoko advised, founders must “Come prepared to articulate not only your initiative but also its commercial pathway… invest the effort to refine, clarify, and deliver a compelling, investor-ready pitch.”
See you at the Deal Room.
