Medsaf named most promising startup in Nigeria at Seedstars Lagos
On August 25th during Seedstars Lagos, Medsaf won the Nigeria round of Seedstars World and will represent the country at the Seedstars Summit in Switzerland to compete for up to USD 1 million in equity investment and other prizes.
Seedstars World, the global seed-stage startup competition for emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes brought its Nigeria round to a successful close during Seedstars Lagos. With the support of regional sponsors Orange, Merck, Enel, Microsoft, the event took place this Friday at Seedspace Lagos, and 10 selected startups were invited to present their ideas in front of the local jury panel.
The local winner, Medsaf, an e-health stratup that is making the process of buying and selling medication in Nigeria’s complex health system easy and efficient, was selected the best startup in Nigeria. eWorker, an outsourcing platform that connects companies with talented and vetted developers in Africa, came second and Edves, a startup which automates the brick and mortal School operations from Student enrollment, Fee Collection, Lesson Note up to Transcript Generation, grabbed the last spot in the top 3. In addition, DropQue which uses a combination of one way unassisted video interviews and a powerful AI assessment assistant to get companies the best candidate won the public vote and will receive one free membership to Seedspace Lagos. The other startups invited to pitch were GetJama, irecycle , Parcel-it, Safi.ng , Wallet.ng and Wesabi.
The ten startups pitched in front of a prestigious jury: Lexi Novitske, Principal Investment Officer at Singularity Investments, Ashley Lewis, Investment Officer at West Africa Accion Venture Lab, Olawale Anifowose General Manager at Enterprise Development Centre (EDC), Wale Ayeni, Head of Africa VC Investments at IFC Venture Capital, and Tunde Akinnuwa, Country Manager at Seedstars.
As a part of the prize, Medsaf will be participating at Seedstars Summit, taking place in Switzerland in April 2018, a weeklong training program with the opportunity to meet the other 75 winners, as well as investors and mentors from around the world. Traditionally, the final day of the Summit will be dedicated to pitching in front of audience of 1000 attendees, with the possibility of winning up to the USD 1 million equity investment and other prizes.
Medsaf will benefit from a number of additional prizes: 1 year of software support from Upperlink, an opportunity to join the Nigerian Delegation in showcasing their services and products to a global audience at the ITU Telecom World 2017 in Busan, South Korea powered by MessageWise, and a $3000 shipping prize from Aramex. The latter prize is redeemable for any of Aramex’s shipping services including International Express, Domestic Express, Shop and Ship, and others, giving the startup the ability to confidently send and receive parcels and correspondence with the peace of mind of Aramex’s superior quality of service. Further support has been provided by Oracle, Coolink and Microsoft.
On a regional level, Seedstars has partnered with the Merck Accelerator, in order to support seed-stage companies in across Asia and Africa with a focus on the fields of healthcare, life science and performance materials. The most promising HealthTech startups will receive office space in the Merck Innovation Center in Kenya or Germany, mentoring and coaching on a regular basis and financial support of up to $50,000.
At the same time, Seedstars World is also working very closely with Enel Green Power to source the most innovative business models in the energy sectors and ones that are fostering socio-economic development in rural villages in Africa. Up to 5 best startups in this sector will be invited for an exclusive RES4Africa networking event taking place later this November in Nairobi and compete for an Africa Energy Prize which consists of a financial contribution and a three-month acceleration programme for a total value of up to $50,000.
Continuing on its world tour of startup scenes in emerging markets and fast-growing startup scenes, Seedstars World’s next stop is Abidjan, to select the best startup in Côte d’Ivoire. Seedstars World is looking for smart startups that solve regional issues and/or develop profitable products for the global market.