Oystr Finance, a fintech startup that builds alternative data infrastructure for Africa’s disadvantaged, has won the SheVentures Tech Pitch competition and received a cash prize of ₦1 million.
The event, which was sponsored by Hub One and Passion Incubator, was held in honor of International Women’s Day 2022, with the goal of honoring and celebrating women in the IT field who are defying stereotypes.
“The competition is aimed at gender equality and shattering bias, which is the topic of International Women’s Day, specifically to develop a world free of stereotypes, discrimination, gender equality, and bias,” said Rolayo Akhigbe, Divisional Head Transaction Banking at FCMB.
Over two hundred startups from diverse sectors and stages of operation applied after several calls for applications were made over a two-week period.
Representatives from FCMB and Passion Incubator chose startups for the event’s final round.
The following are the finalists:
RoboRep: Reduces counterfeiting by assisting health facilities and pharma-retailers in obtaining medicinal products directly from certified suppliers.
Diatron Health: Provides tailored care and access to dedicated care teams to help users save money, and time, and manage, prevent, and reverse chronic illnesses.
Oystr Finance LTD is a financial data infrastructure for the underserved in Africa.
TNN Africa’s Hutano: Focused on bridging the gap between nutrition and dietetics’ worth for growth and prosperity, so that Africans can fully profit from their food in terms of health and longevity.
Greengo is a peer-to-peer lending platform that brings borrowers and lenders together in one place.
Deem Technologies is an e-commerce system that uses personalized and automated digital card solutions, eGift cards, and prepaid cards to help businesses engage their customers, generate sales, and establish brand loyalty.
Gas360 is an Internet of Things (IoT) cleantech business focusing on bringing clean cooking LPG to homes with convenience and efficiency at a low cost.
The finale was held online on March 25th. The judges — Ife Ojobanikan, Principal Investment Officer at Berrywood Capital; Mide Alonge, Manager at Endeavor; and Bisola Elelu, Senior Analyst at Ingressive — chose the winners after a pitching session that lasted up to sixty minutes.
Over 400 million Africans are today financially underserved.
Oystr Finance’s solution enables the underserved to gain access to formal financial services such as credit, investments, insurance, mortgages, cashback, and so on.
Baxi, Tmoni, and Periculum are among the startup’s 5 million clients and partners.
Oystr Finance will receive a ₦1 million cash prize as well as other benefits such as access to FCMB Women in Business Zero Interest Loans capped at ₦5 million per obligor, access to SheVentures Women in Business network and resources, and heavily subsidized access to Hub One’s coworking space if they win the competition.
Deem Technologies and RoboRep came in second and third in the tournament, respectively. They will each receive ₦750,000 and ₦500,000 to help them expand their businesses.
Read more on Tech Gist Africa:
Applications are now open for The Africa Business Heroes Prize Competition 2022