Global early-stage startups competition Seedstars has announced the 10 startups taking part in its Nigerian event in Lagos, where they will compete for a place in the global final and the chance to pitch for up to US$1 million in equity investment.
Global early-stage startups competition Seedstars has already picked African winners in Egypt, Tunisia, Zimbabwe, Morocco, Ghana, Rwanda, Libya, Uganda, Senegal, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Kenya, Mozambique, Guinea Bissau and Angola, and will hold its Lagos event on October 19 at Seedspace Lagos.
Besides representing Nigeria at the Seedstars Regional Africa Summit, the winner will receive an all-inclusive trip to Switzerland to compete at the Seedstars Summit in April, with up to US$1 million in equity investment and other prizes up for grabs. Last year’s Nigerian representative was e-health startup Medsaf.
The startups selected to pitch include energy startup Aspire Power Solutions, agri-drones company Beat Drone, chat-based payment platform Biyabot, business finance solution Bridgebooks, and blockchain-powered anti-counterfeiting startup Chekkit.
Also pitching are video interviewing platform DropQue, ed-tech startup Insight Africa, software development startup Natterbase, legal-tech platform NextCounsel, and marketing startup Termii.
The startups will pitch in front of a jury that will include Wennovation Hub chief operating officer (COO) Ahmed Umar, Tony Elumelu Foundation director of partnerships and evaluation Ifeyinwa Ugochukwu, and TextNigeria managing director Chike Asiodu.
“Seedstars World is a platform that connects investors and stakeholders with the next generation of entrepreneurs. Since this will be our sixth time organising the event at Lagos, the stakes are high and we are very excited. We’ve been in this ecosystem for more than six years now and know there are companies in Nigeria developing high-quality products. We are looking for the best and will take it with us to Switzerland in 2019,” said Alessia Balducci, general manager of Seedspace Lagos.
