Three startups emerged winners out of 12 entrants in the iHATCH Cohort 4 technology demonstration winning a cumulative prize of over N52 million in seed fund.
They emerged at the iHatch Cohort 4 National Demo Day, organised on Thursday by National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) in collaboration with Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) in Abuja.
iHATCH(Idea Hatch) is a free, 5-month incubation programme to help Nigerian entrepreneurs refine their business ideas through coaching, lectures, boot camps, to generate viable and scalable business models on youths, innovation, entrepreneurship and technology.
The startups included Interface Africa, a startup that enables small businesses to access affordable solar financing won with the prize of 15,000 dollars.
The second prize was for Ahiaoma, with 12,000 dollars, a user-friendly market place that ensures trust in the food supply chain by connecting food producers directly to retailers.
The third was Linia Finance, a budgeting bank, combining the functionality of everyday banking with tools for budgeting won with prize of 10,000 dollars.
Other startups included Ficore Labs,Cohortle,Eventro, PPTLinks,Garden in a Box, Easy Buy 4 Me, Soft Drop, Linia Finance and Grabb Livestock.
Mr Al Amin idris, Founder Interface Africa, excited at his win, said he would utilise the money to train about 1000 agents on affordable solar energy for underserved communities and so creating jobs.
“Our target is to use this money to not just train them, but to use the resources to unlock investment in about 100,000 businesses, especially in rural markets,” he said.
Mr Nadungu Gagare, Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Communications and Digital Economy, said the Federal Government remained committed to building an enabling environment for startups and innovators to grow.
Represented by Mr Emmanuel Udoidiok, an official in the ministry, Gagare said the programme was an affirmation of the country’s drive to build a competitive,innovation-led digital economy.
“The startups we celebrate today are proof that Nigeria possesses the talent and the ambition to compete on the global stage because they are developing high-impact solutions across key sectors from fintech to health, tech and agritech solutions.
“These ventures are the direct outcome of deliberate government strategy and programmes
like iHatch are national priorities, strengthening our innovation pipeline and directly contributing to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product and job creation goals.
“The Federal Ministry of Communication, Innovation, and Digital Economy is unwavering in its mandate to create the most enabling environment for these innovators,” he said.
Malam Kashifu Inuwa, Director-General of NITDA, said the iHatch programme began its pilot in Abuja, but later reviewed to spread to the 36 states of the country.
Represented by Ms Victoria Fabunmi National Coordinator, Office for National Digital Innovation (ONDI), he said the federal government was building an all-inclusive innovation ecosystem from the grassroots to the global stage.
“It began as a pilot in Abuja but we quickly saw the transformative potential of taking this programme deeper into states, communities and into the grassroots, where talent is abundant and often undiscovered.
“Today we are witnessing the emergence of founders on a national stage, ensuring that no founder is left behind,” he said.
