WeSabi, an online platform that matches clients with domestic workers within their neighbourhood, has emerged the winner of a N12 million funding at the 2019 edition of the Deji Alli ARM Young Talent Award (DAAYTA).
The event organised by Asset & Resource Management Holding Company Limited (ARM) held on Friday, April 12 at the Four Points by Sheraton Hotels, Victoria Island, Lagos.
A statement sent to BusinessDay explained that the DAAYTA programme was inaugurated in 2015 by ARM to honour the company’s founding CEO, Deji Alli. It is part of the company’s CSR efforts to educate and empower young entrepreneurs to make meaningful socio-economic impact in their immediate environment and the nation at large.
The 2019 edition opened applications in November 2018 with more 500 young business owners applying. 20 businesses finally made it to the initial selection stage. The number was eventually cut to 6 top candidates among which was Murtala Sani founder of WeSabi.
A team of four judges comprising of Victor Asemota, Africa partner for Alta Global Ventures, Mitchell Elegbe, founder of Interswitch, Sadiq Mohammed, deputy Group CEO of ARM Group, and Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien, group chief Sustainability and Governance Officer of Dangote Group made the final selection.
WeSabi’s proposition stood out among the six finalists. Launched in 2015, WeSabi is a startup that helps people find affordable, trained and thoroughly vetted workers for both domestic and commercial needs. The platform has an array of services that it supports including washman, electronics repair, carpentry, AC repairs, and generator repairs, among many others. The services can be accessed through a website, mobile application and a USSD platform.
The CEO said the goal is to build Africa’s marketplace for the blue-collar sector.
The N12 million funding will be channelled towards growing the business. According to ARM, the money which will be disbursed over a period of one year also facilitates the founder’s business plan, completion of a 5-month entrepreneurial education at the Pan Atlantic University’s Enterprise Development Centre in Lagos, as well as receives support for development of WeSabi through an accelerator programme by a reputable entrepreneurial hub in Lagos.
“We are happy that this huge part of our firm’s corporate social responsibility has yet again yielded fruits by empowering a good start-up business which will have a positive impact in the environment,” Uche Azubuike, managing director of ARM Academy said. “There is a lot going on in the ecosystem right now, a lot of support from experienced people and from technology as well. So I would advise the winners of to take advantage of that and make an impact.”
In the fifth position was Oluwayomi Oyatoye of MechoMedics whose initiative aims to address the problem of poor adoption of the new Secondary School curriculum in Nigerian schools specifically in the area of implementing trade courses and entrepreneurship development. Daniel Odediran of PrestPro came in fourth with his idea which aims to produce an energy-saving cooling system using clay for the preservation of freshly plucked tomatoes in order to extend their shelf life. Yusuf Shittu of “Jojolo” Neo Childcare bagged the third position after explaining that Neo Childcare as a mobile child health service provider seeks to provide top quality and affordable healthcare for children especially in low-income communities in Nigeria. Dare Odumade of Chekkit made the second position with his innovation which is an anti-counterfeiting, asset-tracking and consumer feedback analytics platform and tool aimed at addressing the problem of counterfeiting, pilferage and inefficient supply of products.
