The 2016 She Leads Africa Demo Day saw Fresh Direct NG, a container farming company, DeliveryBros, a motorbike delivery service, and Medsaf.com, an online medical procurement platform go home as the big winners. The Demo Day was the closing ceremony to the 6-month She Leads Africa Accelerator entrepreneurship development program.
The SLA Accelerator worked with 10 promising companies looking to grow and scale their businesses. At the Demo Day five of the companies were able to pitch their businesses before a panel of judges for cash and other prizes.
The judges included Dr Ndidi Nnoli-Edozien, Founder and President of the Growing Business Foundation; Ben White, Founder of Venture Capital for Africa; Ololade Fadoju, Head of Guaranty Trust Bank’s SME MarketHub e-commerce platform; and Eloho Omame, CEO of Amari Ltd.
Before the main event began, attendees were welcomed with some refreshment and networking opportunities.
The winning startup, Fresh Direct NG, an agricultural technology company which grows produce within shipping containers, was founded by Angel Adelaja, a previous winner of Chivas The Venture. Her startup consists of an urban farm in the heart of Abuja, within a 20 feet shipping container. It can grow the same amount of produce as a football pitch and a half. The judges said they were impressed by the potential of Angel Adelaja’s company to disrupt the African agriculture and import industry. Fresh Direct NG received a 2 million naira cash prize presented by Guaranty Trust Bank.
In second place was DeliveryBros, a motorbike delivery service which aggregates individuals and SMEs who need pickups with riders from various delivery companies who are in the area. This startup received 1 million naira to invest in improving its technology and optimising its processes.
Third place went to Vivian Nwakah, co-founder of Medsaf.com, an online platform built for medical service providers such as hospitals, pharmacies, and clinics, to purchase and manage medication. Medsaf went home with 500,000 naira.
Blondie Okpuzor’s startup, BathKandy, received a special mention from the judges as the most likely to build a billion naira business in Nigeria.
The Demo Day was supported by the Work in Progress! Alliance and Guaranty Trust Bank.
Here are some more pictures from the event
