NES #25: Sterling Bank partners NESG, others to give N10m grants to 10 early-stage startups
Temitope Adebayo
Sterling Bank, has partnered with the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), Venture Capital for Africa, Verakki and GreenHouse Capital, to fund early-stage ventures with grants up to N10 million at the NES #25 Startups Pitch.
Sterling Bank and the NESG will announce the top three winners during the Closing Plenary Summit by the Vice President, His Excellency, Professor Yemi Osinbajo today, Tuesday, 8th of October 2019.
The top three winners will get grants ranging from N2.5 million to N10 million, through the Nigerian Economic Summit Group Innovation Fund. A N1 million audience choice prize will also be awarded.
The 10 ventures that made it to the finals 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 have been doing business for no more than five years. They have pitched their business to venture capitalists and investors, and are awaiting the announcement of the top three winners, and audience choice prize.
Each startup had five minutes to pitch to prospective investors and 10 minutes to respond to their questions. The session also connected all the 10 start-ups to venture capitalists and investors.
Before the finals, precisely on Tuesday, 1st of October, Sterling Bank in partnership with NESG and GreenHouse Lab hosted a Welcome dinner to kickstart a weeklong startup Bootcamp to prepare the finalists for business, pitching at the grand finale, and meetings with venture capitalists and investors. The intensely educative Bootcamp featured sessions on forming a team, working with coaches and/or mentors, business advisory, and communicating a venture to venture capitalists and investors with confidence.
In 2017, the NESG introduced a Start-ups Pitching Event as part of the annual Nigerian Economic Summit (NES). Many start-up entrepreneurs struggle to get the funds they need to grow their business and, in some cases, even require a mentorship, professional advisory services, among others.
The 2019 edition of the Startups Pitching Event, just like the 2018 edition, is powered by Sterling Bank. It provides 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. It also provides startups with the opportunity to meet experienced investors and obtain great feedback and possibly capital.
The Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG) organises the Annual Nigerian Economic Summit in partnership with the Federal Government of Nigeria through the Federal Ministry of Budget and National Planning, Sterling Bank Plc, among others. It has become an annual dialogue and indeed the flagship event of NESG and the Federal Government that has provided a credible and widely recognised platform for top policymakers and corporate leaders
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