IE University held its first African Venture Day on Friday the 20th of September at the Zone Tech Park Gbagada, Lagos. The cutting-edge program was a networking assembly of IE Alumni, entrepreneurs, business men/women and aspiring start-ups in a bid to promote economic growth in Nigeria.
In a statement by Director of IE West Africa region Onyekachi Eke, she revealed that in the past three years, IE University has held more than 35 International Venture Days in cities around the world including Madrid, Shanghai, Tokyo, Miami, Bogota, London, Santiago de Chile, Paris and more. “In 2018, we organized more than 15 Venture Days around the world and this year, we planned 15 as well. We are excited to be hosting the first African edition in Lagos” she said.
The highlight of the Digital Solutions Venture Day illuminated five innovative startups in Nigeria devoted to solving business challenges with digital solutions. The five start-ups took part in a headstrong pitch competition, showcasing their creativity and value. The pitch was reviewed a jury team made of up IE University’s Hans Munthe-Kaas; Deputy MD of Afrinvest, Victor Ndukauba; Social Impact & ESG Manager, Alithea Capital, Temilade Denton and Founder of TrainQuarters, Stephanie Obi.
At the end of the day, Social Lender pitched by Mudiaga Ogboru was selected as the unanimous winner of the pitching competition, coming tops in both the jury and people’s choice awards. Social Lender is an institution that provides lending services to low-income earners who can’t afford collateral and for their great pitch, they went home with a whopping 5 Million Naira cash prize, an all-expense paid trip to pitch on IE’s stage in the South Summit Spain (access to the Investor Den, conferences in all stages, one on one meetings and matchmaking service with investors and big corporations, etc.) taking place at the beginning of October 2020. They also get $15,000 promotional credits valuable on Amazon Web Services and 50% scholarship for one of the IE High Impact Online Programs (HiOP) of their choice.
Every pitching startup was a winner – Monify, E.Farms, Get It Done and InventOne – as they were all awarded $3000 promotional credits on Amazon Web Services, $5000 in premium support for a year and 30% scholarship for one of the IE High Impact Online Programs (HiOP) in a program of their choice.
IE Venture Day Lagos, an Opportunity to Learn & Networking
“The key to developing the new economy is that we need to see sustainability in the new businesses over the next few years. I believe the demographic dividend that is coming from Nigeria is positive; every person in the world and every person in Nigeria has the potential to generate tremendous amount of value in economic growth if they have the right environment and education,” revealed Dr Amy Jadesimi, MD, Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL) during her keynote address.
The event also featured a panelist of CEOs and business associates including Founder of Flying Doctors Nigeria Limited; Dr. Ola Brown, Co-founder of Gokada, Adedeji Oduntan; among others who elaborated on the topic, Business in Tech and Sustainability. Other guests at the event included Consul General Embassy of Spain in Lagos, Juan Antonio Moreda Otero; Lead Partner at Detail Solicitors, Ayuli Jemide; Director for Middle East & Africa region, IE University; Sabine Yazbeck and Co-Founder Telnet, Dr. Nadu Denloye.
Follow @IE_WestAfrica and @IE_MEA, use the hashtag #IEVentureDayLagos to see updates on social media.
Photo Credit: Fotoway Grafiks