The programme was launched to discover the most innovative startups in Nigeria, and then position them for local and international opportunities. The winner of the competition will be selected on Wednesday, June 12, 2019, at the Impact Hub, Ikoyi, Lagos.
Applications opened in early May 2019 to startups across a number of sectors, including agriculture, clean tech and energy, utilities, construction, manufacturing, media and entertainment, education, healthcare, retail, ICT, logistics, water, luxury goods and jewellery, among many others.
In total, Pitch2Win received over 200 entries from startups that are leveraging technology to solve problems across Nigeria.
To select the winner are judges from different sectors of the economy. They include Dr Ola Brown (FlyingDoctors and Greentree Capital Investments), Dr Femi Kuti (Reliance HMO), Yuzuru Honda (Freakout Holdings), Babara Iyayi, (Lateral Capital/Element Inc.) and Hiro Mashita (M&S Partners).
Here are the 10 startups competing for the N1 million prize
- Asusu: A SaaS company founded in 2017 and on a mission to build infrastructure for informal microfinance organisations by digitising the financial activities of low income and daily earners through cooperatives, trade groups, agent networks, and partnerships.
- Gricd Frij: An Internet of Things startup that provides an affordable and portable cold chain device for efficient storage of vaccines, blood and other health/agricultural products. Oghenetega Iortim launched Gricd Frij in 2017.
- LendSqr: A convenient cloud platform for individual and small lenders to provide credit at zero upfront cost and reduced loan loss. The fintech solution has been the brainchild of Adedeji Olowe from 2018.
- Plumter: Created by Simi Adejumo in 2018, Plumter is an AI-powered solution that helps you schedule, coordinate and keep records of your meetings and tasks in a beautiful, everlasting calendar.
- CashBuddy: Enables Nigerians to receive and send money using mobile airtime, withdraw cash, buy mobile data and pay bills with or without the internet. It was founded by Herbert Obude in 2018.
- Curacel: An AI-powered fraud detection engine that puts a tap on that leak by automating claims processing and putting claims through an intelligent. Henry Mascot founded Curacel in 2017.
- Prodigy: A school management software founded in 2013 that enables schools owners to manage their school effectively and efficiently. The founder is Adeleye Olufemi.
- Truckrtech: An online marketplace, enabling listing and booking of third-party trucks. Truckr gives real-time visibility, cargo-in-transit insurance and proper communication channels to shippers and drivers. It was founded in 2018 by Caryl Joshua Akonor.
- DriversNG: It provides on-demand drivers recruitment digitally and has been in existence since 2016. The founder is Daniel Audu.
- Aidahbot: An AI solution that helps businesses automate their customer interaction. It was founded in 2018 by Nancy Ewurum.
