Startup World Cup (SWC) offers innovation and entrepreneurship opportunities for startup ecosystems around the world. Through regional events held in various countries, the best startups are selected and invited to compete for a $1 million investment prize at the Grand Finale in San Francisco, United States.
Passion Incubator is the exclusive regional partner for the 2019 Startup World Cup in Nigeria. Early-stage, high-potential startups in the country were invited to apply for the competition, and following calls for applications, 10 startups out of about 70 have been selected after a rigorous vetting process. They are highlighted below (in no particular order):
● Natterbase — a global engineering platform that connects world-class remote teams to software companies.
● Edupoint — an online, peer-to-peer learning platform that connects people seeking to learn anything with verified, expert teachers within their communities who can teach them what they want to learn, as well as ensures safety, accountability, and quality service delivery.
● WellNewMe — A human capital advisory company that advises business leaders and governments on strategies to improve the health outcomes of their most valuable assets — their people.
● Sabi.ai (by Schoolphix) — This is an AI-powered on-demand service marketplace that connects SMEs (service providers) to potential customers searching for services within proximity in real time using mobile technology.
● Spleet — A company that provides great living spaces with flexible & convenient payment options.
● Loystar — A loyalty and retail platform that helps merchants build customer loyalty and drive repeat sales in their business.
● Social Lender — a lending solution based on social reputation on mobile, online and social community platforms. It is designed to bridge the gap of immediate fund access for people with limited access to formal credit.
● Publiseer — a free digital publishing platform tailored to meet the growing needs of independent African authors and artists.
● Afara Partners — The leading provider of platforms for alternative financial services in Africa. It is building platforms that would ‘connect the dots’ (or match patterns) and use data to confidently provide customers and partners with better financial products & services.
● FarmFunded — an agricultural technology(agri-tech) company leveraging technology to provide a crowdfunding platform that aggregates finances from funders (investors) and channels them appropriately to farmers for them to scale-up their farming operations.
On February 9th at Civic Hive, the final will take place. The 10 startups will pitch for 4 minutes with a 2 minutes Q&A session following immediately.
The judges, comprising Olusola Amusan, founder of Coven Works, Emmanuel Adegboye, Entrepreneurship Center Manager at Andela, Brian Odhiambo, Associate Director at Novastar Ventures, and Dayo Koleowo, Principal Investment Officer at Microtraction, will select one winner to represent Nigeria at the Grand Finale (which holds on May 17 at the Masonic Auditorium, San Francisco, CA) and compete with other regional winners from across the world for the $1 million investment prize.
A fireside chat themed “How to be highly competitive and secure investment”will also hold at the event. It will be moderated by Damilola Thompson, Senior Corporate Counsel at Echo VC, with the judges doubling as speakers alongside Evgeny Pobegailo, Investment Associate at Fenox VC. Register to attend here
