3 out of the 5 winners of hotly contested 1776 Challenge Cup Regional Nairobi competitions came from Morocco while host Kenya and Ghana had just one each.
Arranged in no particular order, Morocco had GoMobile, Hakeeme and Moldiag while Kenya had Moringa School, and Ghana Zeepay making it to the list of the 1776 Challenge Cup Africa winners who are headed to the Global Finals of the Challenge Cup in Washington, D.C. in June 2016.
The Global Winner will bring home $175,000 in cash and over $1,000,000 in potential investments. Last year, Kenya’s Twiga Foods won a $150,000 investment and the title of Challenge Cup Champion at the event that was held at iHub.
This year, iHub and Nairobi Garage co-hosted the Challenge Cup Regional Nairobi which brought together winners of Challenge Cup Local round events in Accra, Addis Ababa, Casablanca, Harare, Kampala, Lagos and Pretoria. The startups went through a two-day pitching coaching, mentor meetings, and rehearsing before they showcased their innovations today before the judges and audience.
The Challenge Cup is a worldwide tournament for the most promising, world-changing startups to win cash prizes, make international connections, and share their vision on a global stage. Through events happening in over 50 cities around the world, we’re finding incredible potential from communities as distinct as San Francisco to Islamabad.
Today’s judging panel included Evan Burfield, 1776, Cofounder & Co-CEO, Eddine Sarroukh, Philips, Head of Philips Research Africa and Mercy Mutua, DOB Equity, Senior Business Development Manager.
Here is a list of all the competing startups:
- Anchorpay-Harare, Zimbabwe
- Angaza Boma-Nairobi, Kenya
- Awamu Biomass Energy-Kampala, Uganda
- Besew-Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- Boresha Limited-Nairobi, Kenya
- GoMobile-Casablanca, Morroco
- Green-kiosk-Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- GRIT Systems Engineering-Lagos, Nigeria
- Hakeeme-Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
- Illuminum Greenhouses Kenya-Nairobi, Kenya
- Khepri Biosciences-Pretoria, South Africa
- Lipacard-Nairobi, Kenya
- LipaMobile-Kampala, Uganda
- LishaBora Hydroponics Ltd.-Kiambu, Kenya
- Livestock Wealth-Pretoria, South Africa
- Ma3Route-Nairobi, Kenya
- Mazwi.com-Harare, Zimbabwe
- ME SolShare-Dhaka, Banglades
- MOLDiag-MAScIR-Casablanca, Morroco
- Moringa School Limited-Nairobi, Kenya
- Mumcare-Nairobi, Kenya
- Pass.ng-Lagos, Nigeria
- Run Africa-Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
- TotalPrep-Lagos, Nigeria
- Valuraha-Nairobi, Kenya
- Vine Design-Harare, Zimbabwe
- WHC-Pretoria, South Africa
- Yoza-Kampala, Uganda
- Zaacoal-Accra, Ghana
- Zeepay-Accra, Gha