FESPACO 2019: Launch of the largest pan-African incubator of 2D & 3D cinema, video games and artificial intelligence companies in Ouagadougou.
As part of the fiftieth anniversary activities of FESPACO, YULCOM Technologies Canada in partnership with FESPACO is launching the largest pan-African incubator of 2D & 3D cinema, video games, virtual reality and artificial intelligence in Africa called STARPLACE LAB.
This official launch will take place on Friday March 1, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. at the Laico Shopping Center in Ouaga 2000 under the patronage of the President of the National Assembly, H.E. Alassane B SAKANDE, accompanied by several members of the government and guests of honor.
STARPLACE means a place where stars and heroes of movies and video games are created. It intends to contribute to creating imaginary African heroes (fiction) or to highlight living or legendary heroes through interactive platforms. “We believe that digital technology is an essential tool for promoting African culture through cinema and video games. We therefore welcome this initiative which will help strengthen the ecosystem of the cinema and digital multimedia industry in Burkina Faso and Africa « .
“We are working to maintain Ouagadougou as the number one cinema destination in Africa. And for the future, our ambition is to make Ouagadougou the African capital of video games and 3D cinema; this is why we support structuring and innovative projects like STARPLACE LAB « according to the General Delegate of FESPACO, Ardiouma SOMA.
The first of its kind in the sub-region, STARPLACE will strive to support startups with high potential in the African digital multimedia sector. It offers a workspace conducive to development, research, experimentation and the hatching of innovative projects. It has a technical support team, a coaching service and support in the search for financing in order to support the creation of viable businesses.
“Young Africans are very creative. At YULCOM Technologies we are fortunate to work with young people of ten nationalities in Africa and the observation is that there is talent that just needs to be showcased. We have therefore decided to offer this incubator to all young Africans from the interior and from the diaspora so that they can demonstrate their creativity to the rest of the planet « , says Youmani Jérôme LANKOANDÉ, CEO of YULCOM Technologies and promoter of STARPLACE.
The incubator has offices for accelerating start-ups, a co-working space for incubating start-ups, a multifunctional room for video game testing, and virtual reality, video projection and video streaming equipment for training.
STARPLACE LAB conducted from February 24 to 28, 2019, the 1st intensive training course in video game development, for the benefit of 45 developers and graphic designers from Burkina Faso and the sub-region. The selection of candidates followed a call for applications which made it possible to receive applications from all over the continent. This training is provided by a team of expert trainers from Canada.
PRESS CONTACT
Hien Gervais – FESPACO – info@fespaco.bf
Bénédicte Gallet – Starplace – info@starpplace.xyz
About YULCOM Technologies
YULCOM Technologies is a Canadian company specializing in computer engineering, web, mobile and software development, acquisition and installation of information technology tools. YULCOM Technologies supports dozens of clients on four continents: America, Europe, Asia and Africa. More information on www.yulcom-technologies.com
