Six startups have been selected by the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) to showcase their technological innovations at the Gulf Information Technology Exhibition (GITEX). The announcement was made over the weekend in Abuja by Mrs. Hadiza Umar, Head Corporate Affairs and External Relations of the agency.
Umar said the event is aimed at showcasing the global technological advancements and innovations in the domain of consumer electronics, with government and private sector technology institutions in participation.
GITEX is an annual Information and Communication Technology trade show, exhibition, and conference that holds in the Dubai World Trade Centre, Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
According to Umar, the exhibition by the start-ups was in line with the agency’s continuous efforts to promote the growth of the technology ecosystem through Information Communication Technology innovation.
While commenting on preparations for the event, she said the selected start-ups will undergo training so as to maximize the benefit opportunities during the exhibition.
Umar also disclosed that the successful six start-ups represented the six geopolitical zones in the country and were rigorously selected by experts in the government, technology hubs, the academia, investors, professional associations and the ICT industry.
Speaking on the selection process, she said, “The Office for ICT Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIIE) of the agency coordinated the selection of the start-ups which had over 500 applications. “In the final stage, online pitching was conducted for two startups from each region and the best six startups emerged and represent the six geopolitical regions.
“The startups will undergo a one-week boot camp with seasoned resource persons in the ecosystem to equip them with state of the art skills to get the best of GITEX.”
Disclosing the selected startups, Umar said that the start-ups were Arone, a transport, logistics company representing the South East with a technology to solve the problem of lack of accessibility to medical supplies. While other start-up companies include Beepower for Northeast, Domenium for South South, Max for South West, Off-k.com for North West and Wattling for North Central. According to Umar, each startup had demonstrated technological innovations that impact the general well being of citizens.
While speaking on the benefits of the events, she said: “GITEX provided a platform for accelerating investment-ready startups, expose them to international investors, networking opportunities, partnerships, and access to witness emerging technologies that were changing the world.”
She also urged the participating start-ups to maximize opportunities in GITEX, adding that the previous attendance had recorded several successes with Nigerian startups coming top in pitching sessions and winning cash prizes as well as acceleration opportunities.
She also revealed that some other start-ups on the GITEX submissions had been considered for other exhibitions, competitions within the country.
“To ensure continuous support of the ecosystem, the story for startups, who did not make the GITEX list does not end there. “Ten startups from the GITEX submission were selected to participate in Startup on Friday in Abuja, which will take place on October 30. “Twenty more were selected for eNigeria, scheduled for November 5 to 7.
“Both events will also provide startups opportunities to pitch to investors, sponsorship for incubation, training on key entrepreneurship skills, access to network and a cash prize for the best startups,” she added.
