Martin Nielsen is the co-founder and CEO of Mdundo. He moved to Kenya in 2012 as Entrepreneur in Residence for 88mph, an African investment fund with focus on early stage tech startups in Kenya. Mdundo has over the past 5 years grown to one of Africa’s leading music services with more than 29 million active users every month primarily from Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa. The company works with 150,000 musicians across Africa and has licensing deals with Universal Music Group, Warner Music Group, Believe Digital and Tunecore. In September 2020 the company was listed at the stock exchange, Nasdaq First North Growth Markets in Copenhagen. The aim is to provide music lovers easy and affordable access to music.

Three-time Emmy-nominated entrepreneur & producer Derrick N. Ashong (DNA) is the founder of Take Back the Mic (TBTM), a 21st-Century Tech-Driven Studio targeting the Global South and Diaspora. He is the creator of The Mic: Africa, which has won 7 major international awards opposite the biggest companies in Media & Entertainment. His TBTM Interactive Festival was recently nominated for a Webby Award.

A son of Accra, Ghana, Derrick also grew up in Flatbush, Brooklyn and in the Persian Gulf, and attended Harvard University. He went on to act in Steven Spielberg’s Amistad, became a TV host and producer, and Billboard-recognized songwriter. Derrick is a pioneer in producing multi-platform interactive content for global audiences; has hosted his own radio show for Oprah; created award-winning TV shows for ABC/Disney and Al Jazeera; and has spoken at the United Nations, MIT, Harvard, Wharton, and Stanford Business Schools, the London School of Economics, and UK Parliament on issues of Tech & Society.

Constantly breaking barriers, and redefining paradigms, Derrick created the Web3-based TBTM entertainment platform (available in Google & iOS stores) to reward fans and creators.

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Niall Naidoo is the current New Venture Support Manager for The University of Cape Town (UCT) deep-technology start-ups originating from the university’s intellectual property. He is currently leading the commercialisation of the university’s creative intellectual property, which includes the arts, music, and film, with interdisciplinary applications such as game development and virtual reality.