The South Korean Ministry of SMEs and Startups, in collaboration with the Korea Startup Forum and Startup Promotion Agency, hosted the global startup festival COMEUP 2024 at the COEX Convention & Exhibition Center in Seoul, South Korea, from December 11 to 12. The theme was “Innovation Beyond Borders,” reflecting startups’ leading global innovation beyond national and technological boundaries.
The festival featured over 200+ startups from more than 40 countries, including the UAE, Japan, Uganda, and Colombia, participating in exhibitions, pitching sessions, and conferences. Notably, Uganda, which implements South Korea’s Youth Startup Academy (YSA) program through Official Development Assistance (ODA), was given exhibition booths for its startup founders to showcase their ventures.
11 startups from the YSA program including Karaa Africa, Kiso Fresh, Neexa AI, iKnowFarm, AUTOFORE, SafeBangle Technologies, Canine Safaris Ltd, Hello World Africa, Cyanase, Skyline Media Co., Ltd., and ShareCARD took part in the festival and had the opportunity to connect with fellow entrepreneurs/innovators, investors, and industry leaders from around the globe, sparking collaboration, and business growth.
During the event, the YSAU startups were honored with a visit from the Minister of the Ministry of SMEs and Startups, Republic of Korea, Oh Young-ju, who praised their efforts and encouraged deeper collaboration with Korean startups. The Minister also commended Kirigwajjo Anatoli for his startup, YUNGA, which has been established in South Korea through their partnership with VC Venture Port and has officially obtained a license to operate.
A key highlight from the festival, Neexa AI, was named The African Ingenuity Champion: Trailblazer of Uganda’s Bright Future. This recognition underscores Neexa AI’s impactful contributions to innovation and technology, positioning it as a beacon of excellence in Africa’s burgeoning startup ecosystem.
The award was graciously accepted on behalf of Neexa AI by its founder, Ethan Bampeire.
“The award is a significant step towards global recognition for the impact we create now, and what awaits us as we build a world where business growth is effortless through automation,” Bampeire told PC Tech Magazine.
The significance of this milestone for Neexa AI continues to set a benchmark for African ingenuity and resilience on the global stage.
Neexa AI is an artificial intelligence startup helping Ugandan businesses sell more and grow. The startup is a product of Campaignity Technologies, a company that was founded amid the COVID-19 pandemic with a vision of an Africa where business growth is effortless, through automation of marketing and sales.
Initially, the startup offered semi-automated marketing services through Klark.IO, where they worked with over 150 businesses. However, they quickly learned that the biggest challenge, especially for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) was a lack of sales, thus, the startup was then created to help them boost their sales effectively using artificial intelligence.
How Neexa AI works
Neexa AI functions as a 24/7 AI sales agent for your business. It handles inquiries, addresses objections, and closes simple deals. You can use it through your WhatsApp business number or add a chat widget to your website for the AI to engage with visitors and customers — and ensures instant responses to your customers, whether they contact you through your website or WhatsApp business number.
The AI learns from the business, services, and/or product information you provide in the dashboard.
Neexa also has a custom instructions section where you can add any specific instructions on how to deal with any situation. For instance, instruct your AI to share your mobile money number when people are ready to buy.
Even without custom instructions, the AI can work fine, especially if your purpose is to provide timely responses to buyers and help them make a decision quickly.
