Startups Pitching Event winners are innovative – Suleiman

Doctoora, a health tech startup, has emerged winner of the #NES25 (25th National Economic Summit) Startups Pitch Competition powered by Sterling Bank.

The health tech startup got a grant of ₦5 million while runners-up Tiny Hearts Technology and Loystar got ₦3 million and ₦2 million, respectively, in grants as second and third place winners. Gricd Services Limited got ₦1 million in the audience choice category.

10 ventures made it to the finals, and they are Agriple, Notitia, Phaheem Pharmaceuticals Limited, Tiny Hearts Technology, AfriNET Power Tech Solutions, Doctoora E-Health Ltd, GatePass, Loystar, Gricd Services Limited and Green Axis. They are all early-stage startups registered in Nigeria and are not more than five years old.

Congratulating the winners, Abubakar Suleiman, Chief Executive Officer, Sterling Bank, also commended the 10 finalists for pitching innovative and sustainable solutions that are bankable in their different sectors. He disclosed that the bank supports the Startups Pitching Event because it is committed to finding businesses that have real potentials and support them to become major employers of labour with national impact.

Encouraging all the finalists to visit Sterling Bank to discuss how the bank can help them, Abubakar said “The best way to create value is to solve problems. If you are not solving problems, you cannot make profit or grow in a sustainable manner. As a bank, we enable economic growth by working with businesses that are solving problems in critical sectors of the economy.”

He added: “We realise that young people who are starting up businesses need a lot of support and they also need a roadmap. A lot of them have not run businesses before and, therefore, they are learning as they go. The Startups Pitching Event is an opportunity to show them what is required to run a successful business. Beyond that, it is also about hope. It is about sending a message to thousands of other young people who are starting off that there are corporate organisations that are out to support and collaborate with them.”

The overall winner, Doctoora is a venture founded in 2016 by Dr. Debo Odulana. It aims to create healthier communities in Africa. Doctoora aims to achieve this by connecting healthcare professionals and consumers to quality healthcare facilities and pleasant healthcare experiences.

Governor of Ekiti State and Chairman, Nigeria Governors Forum, Dr. Kayode Fayemi, presented the star prize cheque to Doctoora E-Health Limited, while the Minister of Finance, Hajia Zainab Shamsuna Ahmed presented the second prize to Tiny Hearts Technology for the invention of a solar-powered foldable phototherapy crib for the treatment of jaundice in newborn babies.

Mr. Laoye Jaiyeola, CEO, NESG, presented the third prize to Loystar, a rental and loyalty platform designed to help micro small and medium enterprises sell and drive repeat sales in their business clinched the third prize.

In 2017, the NESG introduced a Start-ups Pitching Event as part of the annual Nigerian Economic Summit (NES).  It aims to help start-ups get the funds they need to grow their business and, in some cases, mentorship and professional advisory services, among others.

Consecutively in 2018 and 2019, Sterling Bank powered the NES Startups Pitching Events to provide innovators and entrepreneurs from all over Nigeria with opportunity to pitch their start-ups, collaborate and interact with individuals and organisations interested in promoting entrepreneurship.