Nigeria's Zenith Bank launches pitching competition for startups

Zenith Bank, a leading Nigerian commercial bank, in partnership with Swiss-based global organization Seedstars, has launched the Zenith Bank Pitching Competition for Nigerian entrepreneurs with tech-enabled, scalable solutions designed to innovate businesses from different industries.

In a statement shared with Techloy on Wednesday, the bank said the competition is aimed at supporting Nigerian minimum viable product (MVP) stage startups in advancing to the next stage of growth.

The criteria for startups looking to join the competition are:

• Existing startups/young tech companies (<3 years) in the Nigerian ecosystem;
• The startup must have a demonstrable product or service (MVP) or must demonstrate viability of business model;
• The startup needs to be scalable or have the potential to reach scalability;
• Startup must have a complete team;
• Startup must not have raised more than $75K;
• Startup must be operating in one of the sectors listed above.

The pitch competition will take place at the Zenith Tech Fair on November 22 and 23 and will give the ten startups the opportunity to pitch their solutions for a chance to win the following cash prizes: 1st Prize: N15m (Fifteen million naira); 2nd Prize: N10m (Ten million naira); and 3rd Prize: N5m (Five million naira).

The rest of the startups will be awarded a participatory prize of N1m (one million naira) each, and the top 5 startups will receive follow-on mentorship through Seedstars’ Mentorship Hub. Startups interested in joining the Zenith Bank Pitching Competition can send in applications before the 14th of November, here.