Kangpe, a health platform that wants to put a Doctor in the pocket of every African, has won Seedstars Lagos, the Nigerian leg of Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes.
Kangpe and seven other startups were selected to pitch at the event from over 100 startups that applied.
All the startups pitched – they had 5 mins to do so and 5 mins to answer questions – in front of a prestigious jury for a chance to come out tops.
“I am a trained doctor and as soon as everyone would hear this they would always ask me for advice. I saw a real need for people to have access to doctors, even in the most rural of areas,” explains Founder/CEO of Kangpe.
As a part of the prize, Kangpe will be participating at Seedstars Summit, taking place in Switzerland in March 2017, a week long training program with the opportunity to meet the other 60 winners, as well as investors and mentors from around the world. Traditionally, the final day of the Summit will be dedicated to pitching in front of audience of 1000 attendees, with the possibility of winning up to the USD 1 million equity investment.
1st runner up, Tuteria Company, an online platform that connects people seeking to learn anything, with those who can teach them what they want to learn came second and 2nd runner-up,Davtonlear, an online/cloud based video learning (E-learning) for professional certifications and courses grabbed the last spot in the top 3. The other startups invited to pitch were Legal Form Limited, Quick Gas, Piggybank.ng, Kangpe, Grit Systems and Social Lender
Seedstars World has closely worked with Omidyar Network in order to deliver the best possible event and to provide local entrepreneurs with this opportunity. “We are delighted to be a sponsor of Seedstars. We see it as a very important part of encouraging early stage entrepreneurs and providing them with mentorship, access to investment, support and learning.” says Stephen King, Partner at Omidyar Network.
The 8 startups pitched in front of a prestigious jury, including Simeon Ononobi CEO and Founder at SimplePay, Benjamin Benaim, Founding Partner at Seedstars, Juliet Nwanguma, Country Manager at PayU, Tidjane Deme, Partner at Partech Ventures.
Seedstars Lagos featured an insightful panel discussion about Education, Technology and Entrepreneurship moderated by David Deko, Managing Director Seedstars Academy at Seedstars, with Stephen King Partner at Omidyar Network, Dr Omobola Johnson, Partner at TLcom Capital, Akin Oyebode Executive Secretary of the Employment Trust Fund.
“Our mission is to discover startups that come from bustling, emerging econowmies like Nigeria and give them access to opportunities for support and funding. Specially this year, we have launched our first physical coworking space in Nigeria called Seedspace and the Seedstars Academy where we are constantly striving to add more value to our startups. We are very excited to bring Kangpe to the global stage. ” Benjamin Benaim, founding partner at seedstars.
In addition, the event featured a fireside chat with Juliet Nwanguma, Country Manager of this year’s prize partner PayU about Fintech, hosted by Benjamin Benaim, Founding Partner at Seedstars.
Further support is provided by international partners, such as the Swiss embassy, Orange and PayU
All participating startups will also qualify for two major prizes that Seedstars World is running this year:
Together with TRECC Startups in Education qualify for the global “Transforming Education Prize” which will award the best startup in the education space from around the world with a prize of over USD 50,000. In addition, Seedstars World and Intel are collaborating on the “Intel Solutions Challenge” to find the best startups in Hardware, IoT, Cloud and Analytics with the goal of inviting them to a prestigious Demo Day with internal and external partners who will give access to market and funding for the best startups.
Continuing on its world tour of startup scenes in emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, Seedstars World’s next stop is Accra at Impact Hub to select the best startup in Ghana. Seedstars World is looking for smart startups that solve regional issues and/or develop profitable products for the global market.
