Two Nigerian startups have clinched victories in the final awards at #LEAP2023, Saudi Arabia, bolstering the country’s position as the foremost startup hub in Africa.
Nigeria participated in six categories; and won two out of the six globally categorized pitches while taking the 2nd spot in another category.
Each winner has been gifted $150,000 to boost their startup vision among other supports that include mentorship and early exposure to wider markets.
Sponsored by Digital Cooperation Organization, the Nigerian team to Riyadh, Saudi Arabia was led by Minister of Communications and Digital Economy Prof. Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami.
Over 10,000 startups submitted applications from different countries.
After tough screening processes, the applicants were reduced to 220, and only 90 startups were selected to pitch their business ideas in the semi-final.
Eight Nigerian Startups participated at the semi-final, and three reached the final stage – RiceAfrika Technologies and Wicrypt.
RiceAfrika Technologies – is a tech-driven agric optimization startup that deploys IoT-enabled harvester and its FARMEasy mobile app for smallholder farming communities in Africa.
RiceAfrika believes Africa can feed itself and feed the world. It emerged as the global best in ‘The Tech for Humanity Award’ category and is coming home with 150,000 dollars.
The second winner, Wicrypt – An innovative Tech startup aimed at decentralizing the internet globally, has a custom OS and hardware that allows users to share data with people around them and charge an affordable rate.
The firm also won 150,000 dollars after he was announced as the global best in the ‘The Into New World Award’ category.
About 90 global startups fought for the chance to be one of the 15 nascent businesses selected to pitch before a judging panel consisting of Shark Tank India’s Ghazal Alagh, Baroness Karren Brady, aide to popular entrepreneurship tv show owner, ‘The Apprentice’ Alan Sugar, Saudi angel investor Tala Al Jabri, and Dragon’s Den stars James Caan and Steven Bartlett.
LEAP23 is known as the world’s most visionary and valuable technology event with a prize purse of US$1.54 million for winning startups.
LEAP23 held from February 6-9 at the Riyadh Front Exhibition and Conference Centre and hosted the inaugural LEAP Rocket Fuel Startup Pitch Challenge, powered by Saudi Arabia’s National Technology Development Programme (NTDP).
The initiative is a collaboration between the Kingdom’s Ministry of Communications and Information Technology (MCIT), the MiSK Foundation, and NTDP.
Source: https://msmeafricaonline.com/
