Sahara Ventures, the organizers of Sahara Sparks, kicked off their tour of the Southern and East African region. The first event was held in Malawi's capital - Lilongwe - last week.
Dubbed Lilongwe Sparks, the event is part of the several City Sparks Sahara Ventures is looking to host. That is according to Jumanne Rajabu Mtambalike, the CEO of Sahara Ventures.
"The aim of city Sparks events is to recruit startups and partners for the main Sahara Sparks event," he added.
The event took place at Sahara Sparks' partner hub, mHub. That evening, 12 startups were also given an opportunity to pitch their solutions.
Some were; Soyapi Mumba, Owinna.co, Angle Dimension, Green Impact Technology, Tech Lab and Kambeu Organic Fertilizer.
According to Jumanne, who gave the opening remarks, "Lilongwe is like those silent African cities in tech like Dar es Salaam."
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He believes "there is a lot happening there with very talented and promising young professionals but very rarely covered."
Going forward, Sahara Ventures are looking to work together with mHub. It will "fill the gap in the ecosystem by working with existing players" according to Jumanne.
"This will be an opportunity for Malawian startups to showcase what they do and be linked to potential partners and investors."
Lilongwe is the first city to host a City Spark. The other cities where they'll take place are; Kampala, Nairobi, and Harare.
Sahara Sparks is an annual innovation and technology entrepreneurship event. It takes place in Dar es Salaam with a focus on the African continent.
The aim is to "create a platform for discussions, exhibitions, and access to tools and resources that encourage growths."
It will take place alongside AfriLabs' annual gathering in Tanzania's capital. AfriLabs will be hosting their 2018 annual gathering in the city for the first time.
This is an opportunity for Tanzania, which Jumanne thinks is often underlooked, to showcase itself to the continent, and the world.