Regional winners emerge in Pan-African startup pitch competition

By



MEST

Five promising start-ups from across Africa, have been chosen as regional winners in MEST Africa’s yearly, Pan-African Pitch Competition.
  
The winners move a step closer to winning $50,000 in equity investment, a place in the MEST Africa incubator of their choice and global mentorship to help their company scale.
Winners will pitch on a global stage in the finals at the fourth MEST Africa Summit, to be held in Nairobi, Kenya, June 10-12.

Out of nearly 1000 applicants from across the continent, 10 finalists were chosen to pitch at the regional finals in Accra, Lagos, Nairobi, Cape Town and Abidjan, held February 27-28th. Winners from each region included, Nigeria – AMPZ.TV, the ‘LinkedIn for Sports’ that is developing the next generation of Etos, Drogbas and Aubameyangs through technology; Ghana – OZÉ, a data insights company that helps businesses make data-driven financial decisions and achieve growth to improve performance; South Africa – Snode Technologies, a platform that provides real-time cyber security for individuals and businesses
Kenya – WayaWaya, a fintech company that provides seamless transactions into and within Africa for individuals and businesses; Cote d’Ivoire – Seekewa, a financing platform that allows Internet users and companies from all over the world to support small agricultural projects in Africa through a voucher system.

MEST Africa’s Managing Director, Aaron Fu, said: “The winning start-ups stood out as a result of their impressive revenue growth and potential for expansion. There has been a growing number of companies who have managed to scale in a variety of sectors; so this investment will be vital in aiding these companies to join this expanding group.”

With impressive attendance in each region, judges for the regional finals included industry leaders such as Founding Partner at Ventures Platform, Kola Aina, and Head of Strategic Partnerships (Africa Initiatives – 4Afrika) at Microsoft, Soromfe Uzomah.

A judge at the Accra regional finals, Abdul Latif Issahaku, Data & Devices Manager at MTN Ghana, and Shaper and Founding Curator at the World Economic Forum, said of the competition, “Amazing talent exhibited by the participating scale-up companies. I am thrilled to find new and exciting business models emerging from the pitches. These will definitely make waves in the future.”

The success of last year’s MEST Africa Summit, which took place in Cape Town, South Africa, has raised anticipation for this year’s Summit in Nairobi, set to attract Pan-African investors, corporate executives and key members of the African tech ecosystem.

The winner of the finals will be the second company to join MEST Africa’s portfolio without going through the MEST Training Program. They will join last year’s winner, Nigeria’s smart accounting platform Accounteer, who has since gone on to expand into Kenya and raise additional funding.

Source:https://samueljackson12.blogspot.com/2019/03/regional-winners-emerge-in-pan-african.html

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Prostitution; Nigerian Women At Growing Risk From Human Traffickers In Germany.

By
Image
According to InfoMigrants, Nigerian women are at growing risk from traffickers in Germany who exploit and engage them in prostitution. Read the full report below by InfoMigrants. The new prostitute protection law in Germany was meant to identify victims of human trafficking – most of them migrant women. More than 18 months after the law came into effect, thousands continue to be targeted for exploitation, and the risk for Nigerian women seems to be increasing. There are campervans parked by the roadside. Some have hearts painted on them, one says “girls, girls” in red letters. It’s an easy matter for someone to stop for a quick transaction in one of these Love-Mobiles – sex with one of the “girls” in exchange for the going rate. Prostitution is mainly legal in Germany, as are these mobile brothels. But many of the women in the business – including those working from the Love-Mobiles – are victims of illegal human trafficking. Most of the women are from Eastern Europe or Nige...
Read more

FULL TEXT: A sacrifice for our new political order – Ezekwesili

By
Image
“When the ACPN leadership approached me in a series of visits to appeal that I run for office on their platform, the party appeared to be a good fit. It was founded by some disgruntled PDP members some years ago, but when its prime founder decided to return to the PDP, a core of its membership refused to move back with him. I was told that they stayed back because of their opposition to the ways of the PDP. Considering my vocal disapproval of the PDP and the APC, I admired the ACPN’s decision to stand firm and refusal to be co-opted.” It has been an interesting one week since I made the tough but necessary decision to suspend my campaign for the presidency. I have been truly overwhelmed by the reactions to my announcement from Nigerians. Even in airports outside the country as I travelled last week, Nigerians walked up to me with questions, concerns, encouragement, and motivation. I also saw disappointment by some who had poured their hearts and hopes into actualising our mission ...
Read more

Update On Slay Queen Who Was Stripped Naked And Tortured Over Missing Phone.

By
Image
The League of Patriotic Lawyers has given Edo State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Olusegun Odumosu, 24 hours to unravel those behind the torture and insertion of pepper into a girl’s private part in Benin City over alleged stealing of a mobile phone.  Chairman of the platform and former Student Union President of the University of Benin, Mr. Abubakar Yesufu, who said this in a statement yesterday, also urged the state Director, Department of State Services, DSS, to be involved in the investigation. A video of the incident, seen by Vanguard yesterday, showed the girl being stripped naked by a group of people, who inserted pepper into her private parts for allegedly stealing a phone. The unidentified girl was heard crying and saying she didn’t steal any phone, while she was being humiliated by the crowd. Yesufu said: “The League of Patriotic Lawyers has given the Edo State Commissioner of Police 24 hours to arrest and commence prosecution of all the street urchins behind thi...
Read more