TechCrunch Startup Battlefield
I was invited as a guest judge at TechCrunch’s first-ever event in Nigeria – second in Sub-Saharan Africa. In this seminal event, 15 companies took the stage for the chance of winning the $25,000 equity-free grand prize, a trip for two to TechCrunch Disrupt San Francisco 2019 and the coveted title of “Africa’s Favorite Startup.”
The Judging
In the first stage, each of the 15 startups, divided into three groups, pitched their products and services to a panel of judges which included investors from across Africa and beyond. I had the opportunity to judge 5 companies all vying for a place in the finals, including:
Bankly: An innovative financial product focused on reaching the unbanked in Africa, in a “Recharge to Save” model. Bankly developed a cash-digitization payment and savings products, in which users pay using Bankly vouchers.
c Energy: The world’s first clean cookstove with built-in self-powered IoT System for real-time monitoring. Its 100 percent smokeless biomass cookstove cooks food faster and burns 70 times less fuel using processed proprietary water-resistant Goodlife Biomass Pellets produced from forest and agricultural waste.
M-Scan: A platform developing portable mobile ultrasound devices (Ultrasonic probes) that are laptop, tablet and mobile phone compatible.
Pineapple: A fully decentralized insurer. With Pineapple, members pay premiums into their own wallets rather than a central pot. When claims occur, they are distributed to all wallets in the community, which collectively help pay for the claim.
Trend Solar: Assimilated a 4G Android Smartphone and Solar Home System to provide affordable access to energy, internet and mobile in an all-in-one solution that seeks to address the needs of 640 million+ people currently living off-grid in Sub-Saharan Africa.
And The Winner is…
In the end, M-SCAN from Uganda, emerged as the winner of StartUp Battlefield Africa 2018. We were impressed with its scalability potential to make many other medical access devices affordable for the Continent, where mother and infant mortality is unforgivably high.
The runner-up was Bettr, a virtual banking experience powered by your smartphone and your data. Bettr has the potential to make banking way more accessible for millions of people currently unbanked across Southern Africa.
The Startup Battlefield Competition 2019
I will be headed to the TechCrunch Disrupt SF next year. Startup Battlefield brings the world’s top early-stage startups together on the Disrupt Main Stage to compete for the coveted Disrupt Cup, a $100,000 prize, and the attention of media and investors. Since appearing on the TechCrunch Disrupt stage, Startup Battlefield alumni have collectively raised over $8 billion and seen over 100 exits. The judges include TechCrunch editors as well as top VCs and entrepreneurs. Past winners include names like Dropbox, Mint, Yammer, Zenefits, and many more. Participation is free and open to all pre-Series A startups. Applications will open in 2019.
See you all there!
T.M.A
SOCIAL MEDIA
