Venture Clash: Three Nigerian Startups to Pitch at Yale for a Shot at $1.5m Venture Funding

Three Nigerian startups have made it all the way to the semi-finals of Venture Clash, a $5m investment contest.

CampareIN, Social Lender and Amplified Payment Solutions, each get a shot to pitch their innovations at the semi-finals of Venture Clash. Tagged “Venture Clash 2018”, the semi-finals hold on October 18 at Yale University in Connecticut, USA.

The Nigerian semi-finalists emerged recently at the regional Venture Clash pitch contest held in Lagos on May 23. This is the third time the competition will hold in Africa and is the first time Nigeria will host it.

And the competition was a tight one. With an initial pool of 50 applications, only 11 made the final shortlist. They include Solynta Mobile, Sattrak Services Limited, CompareIN Ltd, Kangpe Inc, Advancio Interactive, Amplify, Beeptool Comm. & Integrated Services Limited, Virtual Farm, SBSC. eMed Diaries, Peach Water Consulting, Social Lender, and FINT.

In this tight contest, CompareIN emerged the winner and won the investment award of $150,000. Founded by Alex Aquereburu and Kayode Awogboro, CompareIN is a disruptor in the insurance industry.  It is an online web platform that allows users to compare multiple insurance quotes for the same products in one place. Aside from the investment award, the startup also got a $5,000 grant to visit Connecticut in the United States.

@VentureClash announces winners of Lagos Pitch Event. #CompareIn takes home top investment award. Eleven companies competed in Lagos, for a chance to ultimately win $1.5 million in the VentureClash finals and three were given awards based on their merit. https://t.co/BGyJt6kPCi

— VentureClash (@VentureClash) May 31, 2018

Following CompareIN closely were two FinTechs, Social Lender and Amplified Payment Solutions. Both finished as runners-up, both still received free passes on to the semi-finals and $5,000 grants each to visit Connecticut.

All three start-ups will represent Africa at the finals of the Venture Clash competition in October at the Yale School of Management. Aside from the opportunity to pitch to a worldwide investor community, first place winner receives an investment award of $1.5m.

About Venture Clash

Venture Clash is a global $5m pitch competition for innovative early-stage companies. Organised by Connecticut Innovations, an investment firm, Venture Clash is global competition. Accepted pitches primarily come from companies in four fields: HealthTech sector, FinTech, IoT, and InsureTech fields.

To be considered also, interested start-ups should have been in business for at least 12 months. They are also expected to show extensive track records of business transactions and working customer acquisition models.

Additionally, start-ups must show a willingness to relocate to Connecticut if they win the pitch contest. At Connecticut, startups receive further mentorship and assistance from experts in various fields of interest.