MEST Africa announced the names of the top five finalist that will pitch at the 2019 MEST Africa Challenge finals in June for $50,000 in equity investment. The five startups are from Ghana, Ivory Coast, Nigeria and South Africa respectively. They were selected after the regional final events that was held in; Accra, Nairobi, Cape Town and Abidjan on the 27th and 28th February 2019. The pitch will take place at the fourth MEST Africa Summit in Nairobi, Kenya on the 10th to 12th of June 2019.
The five startups are;
AMPZ.TV (Nigeria): AMPZ poses as the LinkedIn for sports in Africa. The startup’s platform matches sport talent to verified opportunities and scouts.
OZÉ (Ghana): The platform aims to assist small business owners in Africa make data-driven decisions that will improve their performance and access to capital.
See also: Kenya’s ‘HOCO’ wins Africa Business Challenge
WayaWaya (Kenya): WayaWaya provides fintech solutions like; payments, fund transfers and group savings.
Seekewa (Ivory Coast): This platform has developed a voucher system that enables internet users and companies from around the world to support small agricultural projects in Africa.
Snode Technologies (South Africa): Snode provides real-time cyber security to individuals and businesses.
Aaron Fu Managing Director MEST Africa said ““There has been a growing number of companies who have managed to scale in a variety of sectors; so this investment will be vital in aiding these companies to join this expanding group.”
The winner of the 2019 MEST Africa Challenge will also receive a place at the MEST Africa incubator of their choice, as well as global mentorship to help their company scale, in addition to $50,000 initial prize. The winner in June will be only the second company to join MEST Africa’s portfolio without having to go through the training program. Last year’s challenge was won by Nigerian accounting platform Accounteer and the startup has expanded to Kenya and has raised additional funding.