Nigeria's online accounting startup has emerged overall winner in MEST Africa Challenge

Nigerian cloud accounting startup, Accounteer, has emerged the overall winner in the MEST Africa Challenge; a pan-African pitch competition.

The announcement came on Wednesday, June 20, 2018, at the end of the third edition of MEST Africa Summit, which saw leading entrepreneurs, investors and corporate executives from Africa and across the globe - including Silicon Valley, Europe and Asia - discussing trends, challenges and opportunities facing tech entrepreneurs on the continent under the theme: “The Year of the African Scaleup.”

Speakers at the event included Jason Njoku, Pule Taukobong, Polo Leteka, as well as representatives from Facebook, MTN Group, Knife Capital and IFC.

Accounteer beat Ghana’s Cowtribe, Kenya’s Data Integrated, and South Africa’s Swift Vee to claim the $50,000 in equity investment from the Meltwater Foundation, along with space and support in the MEST Incubator Lagos, Nigeria.

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In April 2018, Accounteer faced competition from seven other non-MEST startups to emerge the winner in the Lagos edition. The win paved way for its participation at the MEST Africa Summit in Cape Town, South Africa.

MEST launches incubator in Kenya

Meanwhile, MEST has announced plans to launch its fourth African incubator in Nairobi, Kenya, as part of activities marking its 10 years of investing in and supporting African entrepreneurs with a pan-African celebration of tech.

Aaron Fu, Managing Director at MEST, says, “We’re thrilled at the outcome of this year’s Summit. We welcomed the continent’s leading entrepreneurs, investors and visionaries for some incredibly engaging discussions around how we can execute on propelling and scaling the continent’s leading tech scaleups while serving as a celebration of a decade of growth at MEST. The success of this year’s Summit, as a meeting ground for Africa’s top ecosystem partners and enthusiasts, has created a forum for honest discussion about change on the continent which we hope will lead to tangible actions and delivery. I’m also extremely excited about our upcoming incubator launch in Nairobi, as we look to strengthen our Pan-African footprint.”

Since its 2008 launch in Accra, Ghana, MEST has been at the forefront of driving some of the continent’s most successful entrepreneurs - pushing them to scale, while achieving Pan-African and global reach and recognition. MEST has invested over $20 million in total funding to date, with portfolio companies going on to receive follow-on funding.

Nigeria's online accounting startup has emerged overall winner in MEST Africa Challenge

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