Opeoluwani Akintayo
28 February 2019, Sweetcrude, Lagos — Total Nigeria has announced winners for its 2018/2019 Startupper of the Year Challenge after series of highly contested tasks.
The three winners for this year include Ogunbanjo Olumide owner of AgroData Network, Obaoye Justus of Carido Automobiles Service Technology, and Ijir Aondosoo of My Waste My Energy.
Winners were selected by a jury made up of local experts, after which they were presented with their awards at an official ceremony held recently in Lagos.
Ogunbanjo’s AgroData Network promotes organic farming via community-based beekeeping providing farmers with free beehives. The company deploys natural techniques to keep the bees within the ecosystem.
Obaoye’s Carido Automobiles Service Technology is an on-demand automobile service technology which aggregates automobile maintenance demands through mobile devices and thereafter facilitates their fulfilment through select offline services performed by competent and vetted mechanics, while Aondosoo’s My Waste My Energy converts rice husk waste to energy source and provides a sustainable form of domestic energy, reduces environmental degradation and deaths associated with respiratory diseases as Nigeria records 93000 deaths annually due to smoke from firewood.
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These young entrepreneurs will receive financial support of up to N6million for the first prize to develop their project. They will also receive personalized support and coaching from Passion Incubator and a communications campaign to publicise their project.
The winner of the Top Female Entrepreneur award, a new addition to the 2018-2019 Challenge to support women in business, is Omotosho Oghenekevwe- Isabiwork.
Isabiwork is an app which helps customers easily locate the nearest artisan or service provider in their location thereby bridging the digital divide between artisans and their potential customers.
Award for the Young Entrepreneur prize was given Emmanuel Ezenwere, Arone Aerial Services- Arone is bridging the gap between rural and urban health care services in sub-Saharan Africa by transporting medical supplies from medical storage and distribution centres to primary healthcare centres using autonomous delivery drones.
The 2018-2019 Startupper of the Year by Total Challenge which held simultaneously in 55 countries— 37 of which are in Africa, 11 in the Asia-Pacific and Middle East region, 4 in the Americas, and 3 in Europe, reaffirms Total’s commitment to social and economic development in host countries worldwide. By helping innovative young entrepreneurs to realise their projects, the challenge strengthens the local social fabric.
The second Startupper of the Year by Total Challenge received nearly 50,000 entries, of which more than 15,000 were fully completed.
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In all, 825 finalists presented their projects to a jury of experts, with 165 winning prizes.
The first prize winner in each country will see their project presented to the international grand juries that will pick the six Grand Winners from all 55 countries.
