Eko Innovation Centre in partnership with Lagos State government and other partners has selected eight Startups for Gitex Pitch Competition in Dubai in October this year with possibility of attracting more funding from global investors.
Gitex is Gulf Information Technology Exhibition. It is an annual global tech show, organised by the Dubai World Trade Centre in the United Arab Emirates.
The companies are Pocket Food; Fuspay Technologies; Byte; Africa Comicade, Get Equity; Alajo; Instant Rad and Dataleum.
The Lagos State government in partnership with Eko Innovation Centre would be sponsoring these startups on an all-expense paid session to the Gitex Supernova Pitch Competition where the entrepreneurs will pitch their ideas and compete on a global scale before fund managers and investors.
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Olatunbosun Alake, the special adviser to Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, reaffirmed Lagos State’s commitment to partnering with the Dubai World Trade Centre, the organisers of Gitex Global, to provide the platform for young companies or small businesses to become global companies and operate on a global scale.
“It is an opportunity for Lagos startups to showcase their ingenuity across a global audience, as it helps to validate their products and services, puts them in front of other competitors as well as exposure for investment opportunities to Nigeria”, he said.
He further added that the entrepreneurs provide economic value through the Gitex platform as it puts them in front of investors sponsored by the Lagos State government.
Victor Afolabi, founder, Eko Innovation Centre, stated that the initiative presents a platform to deepen the entrepreneurial ecosystem as well as reduce unemployment in Lagos state and Nigeria.
“With Gitex, we expect the entrepreneurs to get partnerships and collaborations to commercialize their businesses, and grow their market share in order to help assuage the economic challenges and eradicate the high rate of poverty prevalent in the country” he said.
