Seven South African legal-tech startups to pitch for EUR 10,000 grant
In March this year, The Hague Institute for Innovation of Law (HiiL) announced the start of its annual global Innovating Justice Challenge in search of the region’s best justice-related social entrepreneurs.
The HiiL is a social enterprise devoted to user-friendly justice. That means justice that is easy to access, easy to understand, and effective. It says it has a mission to ensure that by 2030, 150 million people will be able to prevent or resolve their most pressing justice problems.
The institute received over 200 applications from startups with high-impact justice innovations. The HiiL has announced the selection of the top seven in Southern Africa to pitch to an esteemed panel and is inviting interested community members to join the presentation.
Adam Oxford, Head of the HiiL Innovation Hub, Southern Africa, says that an estimated 70% of justice problems remain unresolved due to lack of access, trust, and high costs.
These issues often result in poor outcomes for health, equality, and economic stability. “By addressing justice over the past six years in South Africa, we have used data, innovation, and transformation to build programs and run hackathons that encourage the development of user-friendly justice.”
With more than 26 innovations directly supported in the Southern African region alone, HiiL is excited to kick off the final part of the selection process for this year’s HiiL Innovating Justice Challenge, which will see up to five social entrepreneurs selected to participate in the Justice Accelerator Programme. Selected innovators will receive four months of intensive programmatic support, as well as the coveted EUR 10,000 grant.
The kick-off event will take place on Zoom at 18:00 on 13 July and will showcase Southern Africa’s next best innovators who are making access to justice their business – literally. These innovators will be showcasing their solutions, which aim to prevent or resolve the most pressing justice needs of the region’s most vulnerable people. Each team will be presenting virtually to community members, industry experts, government officials, and international representatives.
“We’re exceptionally proud to see that many of this year’s finalists have been through previous HiiL programs, and we have watched them develop over time to be potential game-changers in the field of justice,” says Oxford.
The startups pitching at the event include:
BUA
Bua identifies hindrances in accessing justice and formulates and implements technological solutions that enable victims to take charge.
LegalFundi is simplifying legal and regulatory processes to ensure compliance and unlock opportunities. Empowering individuals, SMEs, employees, and corporates through access and communication.
Legal Ascend is an application, which enables the recently bereaved to manage estate executorship correctly and easily without running up large legal fees.
Molao365 is an online free legal advice service offered via an application. The legal advice services are offered in local RSA languages by qualified & experienced lawyers.
Kleva Contracts democratize access to legal services by providing online contract creation, access to legal services, and educational material in multiple South African languages.
An online legal agency focused on Intellectual Property and Commercial Law.
EzyFind empowers South African citizens with legal information & FREE legal contracts for online digital download. Online digital purchase and consultation between attorney and client.
The full agenda for the event is available here. It will also include innovator pitches from the above finalists with a keynote address from John Jeffery, Deputy Minister of Justice and Constitutional Development, and closing remarks from Han Peters, Ambassador for the Kingdom of the Netherlands in South Africa.
The Panel of experts includes:
- Tshanelo Tsoaedi: Executive Director of CAOSA
- Simphiwe Mntambo: Ventures Manager of Allan Gray Orbis Foundation
- Darryl Bernstein: Partner of Baker McKenzie
Please make sure that you reserve a seat here so you do not miss out on any communications for the event.