Agri-tech startup Crop2Cash has been named winner of the Nigerian leg of the global Seedstars World competition, booking a place at the global final and the chance to pitch for US$500,000 in equity investment.
Seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets Seedstars World is selecting national winners from all over the world, including around 30 African countries, and will bring them together at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland next year to compete for funding and a host of other prizes.
It has already chosen winners in Kenya, Ghana, Tanzania, Egypt, Morocco, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Angola, The Gambia, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Cape Verde, Tunisia, Malawi, Cameroon, Mauritius, Uganda, Libya, Zimbabwe, Ivory Coast, Mozambique, Zambia, Mali and Botswana, and held its Nigerian event in Lagos last week.
Eleven startups pitched in front of a local jury panel for a place in the final, with Crop2Cash, which provides a number of digital services to smallholder farmers, emerging as the winner. The startup will now take part in the global final in Switzerland, where it will have the chance of winning the equity funding, but will also represent Nigeria at the Seedstars Africa regional summit in Johannesburg in December and gain access to a three-month investment readiness programme.
E-health startup Doctoora came second, while e-commerce marketplace Traders of Africa (TOFA) was third. The other startups invited to pitch were Asusu, Publiseer, One Kiosk, Lucy.ng, FoodLocker, Edusko, Alerzo and Pronov.
