On Saturday September 20th 10 female entrepreneurs from across the continent and diaspora competed for more than $30,000 in cash and prizes at the She Leads Africa Entrepreneur Showcase.

Each finalist had 5 minutes to pitch their businesses and then received questions from the esteemed panel of judges including Hakeem Belo-Osagie (Chairman of Etisalat Nigeria), Ngozi Edozien (CEO of InVivo Partners) Omoyemi Akerele (Founder of Lagos Fashion and Design Week) and Audu Maikori (CEO of Chocolate City Group). Alhaji Aliko Dangote also attended the event and judged several of entrepreneur presentations encouraging the finalists to pursue local manufacturing and develop new industries in Nigeria.

More than 300 people filled the venue as dozens of angel investors and representatives from venture capital companies including Cardinal Stone, Kuramo Capital, Travant Capital, and Metis Capital Partners attended the event looking for investment deals with the next hottest startups.

When determining the winners the judges looked for an idea that had already been tested in the market, ability to scale across markets, a strong management team, clear understanding of the potential risks and challenges and a plan to mitigate them.

The winners of the competition were:


First place: Cherae Robinson is the founder of Tastemakers Africa, the world’s only mobile app dedicated to buying upscale, curated experiences on the African continent. (Diaspora)

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