Meet Magnus Petersen-Paaske

Magnus Petersen-Paaske is StartupBus Africa’s leader, co-founder, facilitator and an inspired team member
Magnus Petersen-Paaske, like most of the StartupBus Africa team, is a true multi-tasker. His day job sees him being the Booster Pack Manager for Venture Cup. Venture Cup, a McKinsey initiative founded in 2000, is a business plan competition for university students. He is also, apart from his many roles on the StartupBus Africa team, the co-founder of social enterprise Mahila mobile which has been recognised by the likes of Bill Clinton. Mahila Mobile aims to bring smart phone technology to the 6 billion people yet to be exposed to it. Magnus is a web developer by trade but his unicyclying training saw him win the unicyclying world championships in 2012.

It was also in 2012 that he was a buspreneur in Boston, then a conductor on the Copenhagen leg of StartupBus, and finally the co-founder of StartupBus Africa alongside Christopher Pruijsen and Francis Chiwunda. Magnus says that he got involved with StartupBus Africa because “This is the best opportunity to learn about the African market and society, since like ever, and it is a place that truly fascinates me”.
And who better to hold so many roles on the StartupBus Africa team than someone who is vastly involved in the start-up space. Magnus has organised Startup Live Copenhagen, taught the Hackademy coding class in Copenhagen, participated in Global Entrepreneurship Summer School in Munich, been a delegate at World Business Dialogue in Cologne, held the position of regional president and founder of Kairos Society in the Nordics, and (as already mentioned) is deeply immersed in the various StartupBus tours.

And for Magnus, StartupBus Africa will have been successful when, “The buspreneurs look back and see this as a life changing event, we can see that the businesses they built are still more than viable, and the connections made on the bus have turned into proper friendships that help them get ahead in their careers and their businesses and help them create the next generation of African enterprises”.