On the 24th of November 2022, StartHub Africa held its National Inter-University Pitch contest for business-minded students during the Uganda Innovation Week at Mestil Hotel. This is the ultimate stage of the StartHub Africa Launchpad program which is a semester-long program designed to give students practical entrepreneurship skills in market research, business modelling, and sales & marketing.
At this event, StartHub celebrates all the innovations developed through its programs during the year. The program accepts and welcomes university students with or without a business idea. Every semester, we receive hundreds of applications at each of our partner universities for the program. Many students come up with their ideas through StartHub’s ideathons and bootcamps during the year, and then launch the business and start to make money. These students compete at their respective universities and the winner for each semester gets a direct pass into the National finals.
Figure 2: One of the finalists pitching during the event (NedTech Uganda)
This year’s contest attracted 12 finalists from 6 partner universities namely, Kyambogo University, Makerere University, Busitema University, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Gulu University, and Muni University. Most of these student startups were less than a year old and were started during our Launchpad program.
The Battle for a share of a share of the 10 million shillings grant.
The 12 finalists faced off in front of a jury composed of business experts and experienced individuals in the innovation space. The participants had 5 minutes to pitch their ideas and also had 5 minutes to answer questions from the jury.
The jury offered valuable feedback and expert advice to these young entrepreneurs.
By the end of the day, the jury members selected 6 teams as favourites for a share of the 10 million shillings grant as follows.
1. NetTech Uganda (Busitema)- Won 2.5 Million Uganda Shillings:
Problem: Temperatures and anomalies in gridline power cables in electricity infrastructures are manually monitored and at times, the cost of monitoring is always high. Besides this, the breakdown of such infrastructure brings a standstill to operations in the affected areas.
Solution: NedTech offers a networked temperature sensor that is installable on grids and has a sensor that is capable of reading extreme temperatures, with a GPS that enhances the tracing of vulnerable grids and provides timely data to the control station which eliminates inconsistencies in the monitoring process.
2. Kanga Care (MUST) – Won 2 Million Uganda Shillings.
Problem: Prematurity is the leading cause of death amongst babies in the world and 60% of these deaths occur in Africa Uganda ranks 28th.
Solution: Kanga Care offers a baby warmer that is locally knitted using Yarn and fitted with vital reading sensors and a mini oxygen cylinder and is also designed to regulate the temperature of preterm infants in the absence of incubators. The bag provides maximum warmth to babies and comes at an affordable price. This is in an attempt to address the issue of high infant mortality rates in the developing world by replacing expensive traditional infant incubators.
3. Agro Verm. (Makerere University)-Won 1.5 Million Uganda Shillings.
Problem: Most fertilizers in the Ugandan market are inorganic and expensive. In the end, farmers spend a lot of money but the crop yield is always low and of poor quality. This results burden is shifted to the consumers by charging a high price for the few crop products on the market.
Solution: Agro-verm manufactures organic fertilizers from recycled wastes and offers this to farmers at an affordable price.
4. Mari Medicinal. (Makerere University) – Won 1.5 Million Uganda Shillings.
Problem: 85% Of People, aged 11-30 are affected by ACNE but most Skin care products don’t actually solve it and if they do, they are quite expensive.
Solution: Marie Medicinal offers skin soap that is organic and locally made with candlenut extract. The soap is affordable, durable, effective, and made by a refugee community in Gulu.
5. Smart Clean Energy. (Gulu University) – Won 1.5 Million Uganda Shillings.
Problem: Most power users in Uganda often complain about the instability of power, uneven at times, pollution when it comes to gasoline generators, and the high costs of fuel.
Solution: Smart and clean energy offers a smart tech electronic 240vac generator that is cheap, portable, and compatible with a number of devices. The uniqueness of the product comes with compatibility with the off-grid and on-grid customers. It can also be remotely controlled and serves as both a UPS (Uninterruptable Power Supply) and as a solar converter.
6. Mindspace (Makerere University) – Won 1 Million Uganda Shillings.
Problem: Over 14 million Ugandan have mental health issues and the treatment gap is 85%. This causes Limited access to mental health services and long waiting times.
Solution: A digital platform that allows users to access mental health support and information at the touch of a button. Mindspace lets its user talk to licensed therapists, and group support through community channels. The application comes with anonymity, immediate support, convenience, and remote access.
These selected teams will get mentorship and guidance before and while spending the award monies. StartHub is keen to ensure all funds are used for business purposes only and help the companies grow, using the funds to make a difference. Many businesses can be started with little money, but that requires that funds be spent well and strategically. The best innovators will then also have a chance to apply to StartHub’s Catalyzer program to get more dedicated venture-building support and investment opportunities.
Click here to learn more about our catalyzer program.
StartHub is excited to continue supporting Ugandan university innovators all across the country and will expand to more universities in 2023. Learn more about our Launchpad program
