TechCrunch (founded in June, 2005) the globally renowned online publisher of technology news which primarily and zealously covers startup businesses, established firms, reviewing internet products and also breaking tech news sent in Jonathan Shieber to come and pick up one lucky start up winner in a Pitch Competition for its Start Up Alley at the Tech Disrupt London competition holding in London later this year. The competition was sponsored by Synergy Capital, Paga, Private Property Nigeria, Venture Kinetics, Cheki, Jobberman, Uber, Hacker Home San Francisco, Of A kind Creatives, Softsmith, and our own Courteville Business Solutions.
The flood gates were opened for residents of Lagos to come watch brilliant minds share wonderful business ideas and it was well attended with people having to stand to get a glimpse of the Pitchers. Before the event kicked off Jonathan Shieber was kind enough to give tips on how to get your Start Up into the eyes and minds of journalists, reporters and also the public. The judges of the competition were seasoned and young Entrepreneurs (including Jonathan Shieber of TechCrunch). The judges were Funke Opeke who’s the MD/CEO of Main One, Bastian Gotter who’s the co-founder of Iroko TV, Chika Nwobi the brain behind MTech, Olamide Edu of Synergy Capital Advisory and Mr. Adebola Akindele, the GMD/CEO of Courteville Business Solutions Plc (owners of the AutoRegTM Franchise).
There were 10 wonderful Pitches on the night and though it was a tough job to pick the best there was always going to be a standout pitch. Apart from having wonderful ideas it was more interesting to see the Pitchers convince the judges about buying into their ideas in a 2 minute Pitch (also regarded as the Elevator Pitch). The eventual winner was Talent Base Nigeria Limited, their Pitch was all about a Human Resource Management software that helps small businesses simplify their Human Resource processes. Talent Base will have the opportunity to pitch their idea to a wider audience in the Start-Up Alley at the TechCrunch Disrupt in London. A cheque of N500, 000 (Five Hundred Thousand Naira) was issued to the winners and also the expenses for their trip to London for the event would be covered by the sponsors. It’s safe to say all budding Entrepreneurs should keep their dream alive.
