(FLOWERBUDNEWS) IE University, a leading global higher institution based in Madrid and Segovia,
Spain held its first African Venture Day in Lagos State on Friday the 20 th of
September.
Themed Growth and Scalability in Business: Crafting a Winning
Strategy, the event was put together to help further support startups dedicated
to providing innovative digital based solutions to everyday problems faced by
African businesses.
The Lagos Venture Day which held at Zone Tech Park in Gbagada Lagos,
commenced with a welcome address from the Lagos Consul General of Spain, Mr.
Juan Antonio Moreda Otero. According to him, “IE University, Nigeria and Spain
are three clear dots joined by three lines which are entrepreneurship, knowledge
and commitment”. This was followed by a keynote address delivered by the MD,
Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL), Dr. Amy Jadesimi.
An intellectual panel discussion on Business in Tech and Sustainability was
deliberated on where Managing Director of BPL Nigeria Limited Ajibade
Oluwabiyi also advised founders to think 10 years into the future when starting a
business. “When looking for that first customer, it’s advisable to keep your cost
very low,” advised Adedeji Oduntan – Co-founder of Gokada. Other members of
the panel comprised of founder of Flying Doctors Nigeria Limited, Dr Ola Brown;
Senior Venture Analyst at Climate and Innovation Center, Adamu Garba; and
Associate Director of Portfolio for Acumen (West Africa) Oluwatoyin Emmanuel.
The insightful panel was moderated by CEO, Concept to Market, Funmi Odusola.
Onyekachi Eke, Director of IE University (West Africa) and Sabine Yazbeck Director
of IE University; (Middle East & Africa) shared the goals of IE which encompasses
offering a dynamic, transformational learning environment that shapes the
people who will go on to shape the world.
The spotlight of the event introduced startups who pitched their innovative
solutions to the jury made up of leaders in the tech and finance industries
including Associate Director of IE Business School; Hans Kristofer Munthe-
kass, Founder of TrainQuarters Stephanie Obi, Social Impact and ESG
Manager at Alithea Capital, Temilade Denton; Programme Head, Accion
Venture Lab Ekene Agu and; the Deputy Managing Director of Afrinvest; Victor
Ndukauba.
The five competing startups which had been selected based on their originality,
financial viability and positive impact on major business challenges battled for the
star prize of an all-expense paid trip to Spain to participate in a week long IE
startup bootcamp and the South Summit start-up conference in Spain, 5
million Naira cash, $15,000 promotional credits courtesy Amazon Web Services
and 50% scholarship for any IE University’s High Impact Online Program
(HiOP) of their choice.
Social Lender; an organization which offers lending services to low-income
earners who cannot provide collateral emerged winner of the Venture Day after
being pitched by Mudiaga Ogboru. Monify; a platform which provides financial
advisory services emerged runner-up. Other competitors included InventOne
(pitched by Oluwatobi Oguntade) which helps users and tech enthusiasts to
create things with little or no tech expertise, E.Farms (pitched by Victory Israel)
dedicated to funding, training and providing digital solutions to farmers and Get It
Done (pitched by Akinwunmi Olayemi) an app that encourages users to get things
done on time. The audience were also given the power to select a people’s choice
startup winner via a Twitter poll with Social Lender still emerging as winner.
Speaking on whether the ideas from the Venture Day would profit Africa, Dr Amy
Jadesimi said, “Nigeria should be at the core of driving growth throughout Africa
and young people are going to be at the forefront of that. The people in this room
today are equally instrumentally changing waves in Africa to contribute to the
economy”
IE hosts several events annually connecting entrepreneurial communities all over
the world. The institution has been over time dedicated to providing solutions
and prior to the Lagos Venture Day, held an event titled African Solutions, Global
Problems earlier in June this year. The event featured a keynote of intellects from
various areas such as banking, law, Fintech, technology, civil service with speakers
presenting solutions they had applied to solve global challenges.
