Jul 27, 2023

The US $10,000 Pitch2Win startup competition has been won this year by the Nigerian company PharmaRun, an online platform where users can find and order pharmaceutical products and services with BNPL options. A panel of judges, including Ventures Platform partner Kola Aina, TLcom Capital partner Eloho Omame, SG Verse founder Hiro Mashita, Freakout Holdings founder Yuzuru Honda, and Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority CIO Kola Owodunni, will evaluate the selected early-stage startups. The overall winner was PharmaRun. Teniola Adedeji and Funmilola Aderemi founded the startup in 2021 with the goal of removing the challenges faced by conventional pharmacies, which frequently run out of stock and force customers to buy alternatives. “This was our first time pitching to an audience so it is amazing that we won. It’s given us validation that this is a product that is scalable and we are onto something. Having to compete with founders that are well-known yet we won? It’s amazing,” said Adedeji. “We’re looking to raise US $500,000 for product development and customer acquisition and Pitch2Win is offering us visibility and access to investors. So we’re very thankful.” ZeroComplex AI, an AI startup that makes it easier to integrate AI into current applications, came in second, and Oystr Finance, a fintech startup that makes alternative financial data, creditworthiness, and identification verification of borrowers across Africa easily accessible, came in third.