Within the DIGILOGIC project, Digital Innovation Hubs (DIHs) from Europe and Africa aim to support innovators, start-ups, and SMEs to jointly develop smart logistics solutions. This includes a one-year programme of mentoring for 12 selected startups which kicked off with a bootcamp, from 13th to 15th December.

The three-day boot camp was hosted by VTT in Helsinki (Finland), with Digital Hub Logistics in Dortmund (Germany) and startup Vinmak (Ghana) connecting through live streaming.

The bootcamp facilitated establishing personal connections between the startups and the DIGILOGIC DIHs through the exchange of knowledge and experiences.

During the first day, the startups were the focus of attention. The entrepreneurs presented their innovative offerings, and answered questions from other participants. Also, going beyond the startups’ innovations, there was a presentation of the state-of-the-art in digital logistics research, development, and innovation.

During the second day, the focus was on the support ecosystem. There were presentations about the support ecosystem for digital logistics in Africa. In addition, there were presentations with question and answer sessions from Helsinki and Dortmund about EU – Africa funding and collaboration opportunities for startups.

The third day involved deep dive and extensive exchange of peer experiences. There were workshops about how the startups could compete better, construct enabling infrastructure better, and cooperate better.

Between the days of the boot camp, there were evening - morning discussions among the participants about startup fitness and health, and how digital logistics can be made a more attractive option for investors.

For many of the African participants, the boot camp provided them with an introduction to work travel and meetings in Europe. As well as meeting with DIGILOGIC DIH personnel, they had opportunities to meet with external organizations that presented at the bootcamp. In particular, Business Finland, Startup Germany Tour, and Finnpartnership. These organizations presented new collaboration and funding opportunities for startups.

As Godfred Addai Amoako, attending the bootcamp with Trotro,  wrote on a social media post: “DIGILOGIC is more than Tech and logistics, it's a network family who care about individuals, changing countries economy, international solutions, More jobs and achieving #sdgsimpact with simple solutions.”