Chibuzo Opara, co-founder, and CEO of Drugstoc, an innovative startup that leverages technology, supply chain management, financial solutions, and product knowledge to enhance access to healthcare in emerging markets has secured the $20,000 first prize winner of the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) edition of the Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI).
“The competition has been a great platform to showcase our capabilities, learn, grow, and fuel our aspirations. It’s an overwhelming journey that doesn’t stop here, it only propels us to strive for more and we are looking forward to the global finals in San Francisco.
“I am proud of the Drugstoc team who keep pushing to make the dream of distributing and enhancing the availability of medical supplies and services a reality. We see the opportunity to collaborate with Visa through its technology, to service the Drugstoc supply chain and bring efficiency to Sub-Saharan Africa,” he said.
Having taken the $20,000 1st place prize, Chibuzo Opara will now compete against the other regional champions from North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific at the VEI Global Finals, which will take place on September 19 at TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference in San Francisco.
Also, he will be able to showcase their solution on a global stage with TechCrunch, one of the world’s most influential start-up technology platforms, gaining valuable exposure to key fintech stakeholders across the banking, merchant, VC, and government sectors.
According to Visa, the 2023 edition of VEI introduced a new Risk prize, with an expanded remit that includes start-ups offering finance value-adds for merchants and consumers.
Giorgio Patrini of Sensity won the Risk prize, receiving US$25,000. The Fintechs Innovating in Risk Excellence (FIIRE) award, supported by UAE’s Emirates NBD Group, was open to CEMEA-based fintechs with security or risk-focused products that could transform payment systems.
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The FIIRE winner not only received a cash prize but also the opportunity to collaborate with Emirates NBD Group, a banking entity in the Middle East.
Also honoured at the VEI CEMEA Regional Finals was Nelson Aseka of AIfluence, who took home the Audience Favorite award of $10,000. In addition to an equity-free cash prize for winning,
“Fintechs and payments innovators are shaping the future of how we make payments as consumers and as businesses,” said Otto Williams, Senior Vice President and Head of Product, Partnership, and Digital Solutions at Visa CEMEA. “We are proud to offer them a platform to showcase their impactful solutions that can uplift the world of payments and commerce.”
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