- New opening demonstrates African-founded tech company’s commitment to building the AI ecosystem across Africa
- Joins parent company BioNTech’s existing presence in the central African country
InstaDeep announced on September 7 that it is deepening its commitment to developing Africa’s AI ecosystem by opening an office in Kigali, Rwanda.
InstaDeep CEO Karim Beguir revealed the news at the Deep Learning Indaba, the annual meeting of the African machine learning and artificial intelligence community with the mission to strengthen African AI. The office will initially be home to a half dozen employees with a strong AI research focus.
“InstaDeep has always offered exceptional opportunities for Africans passionate about AI,” Beguir said. “It makes sense to deploy and grow our team in Kigali as Rwanda emerges as a leader in building the economy of the future. We’re excited to share this news at the Deep Learning Indaba with this dynamic community of African AI researchers and developers.”
The InstaDeep office will be led by Dr Arnu Pretorius, InstaDeep’s head of AI research in Africa. Pretorius was honoured at the 2023 Deep Learning Indaba as the recipient of the Kambule Doctoral Award, which celebrates excellence in AI research and writing.
“Kigali offers an incredible opportunity for InstaDeep to keep strengthening AI in Africa, and to continue building towards sustainable solutions for the continent and beyond,” Pretorius said. “Rwanda is at the forefront of policy, with the recent example of hosting a top AI global conference –ICLR– for the first time in Africa. Having an office in Kigali makes it possible for us to give many more opportunities for African AI talent from all corners of the continent.”
InstaDeep was acquired this year by BioNTech, which broke ground in June 2022 on a state-of-the-art manufacturing facility in Kigali.
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