On the 9th of August 2019, the Delegation of German Industry and Commerce in Nigeria (AHK Nigeria) in collaboration with Tech Entrepreneurship Initiative ‘Make-IT in Africa’ (GIZ) organized an Innovation pitch Challenge for the Start.up! Germany - NRW 2019 exposure trip.

The exposure trip is a 5-day guided tour to explore some of Germany’s most promising startup hotspots; connect to peers and talent; build a feeling of what drives the German “startup-scene”; get a grasp of current developments in the market; and most importantly meet potential customers, partners or investors.

The 2019 German - NRW exposure trip focuses on startups in sectors; Logistics & mobility, InsurTech and Smart city. Nine Nigerian startups were shortlisted from the pool of candidates that applied. The startups were invited to the Innovation pitch Challenge to pitch and defend their business model to a group of judges and investors. The winners were Dayo Olujekun of StaffBus, Ruth Iselema of Bitmama and Adebowale Banjo of My Autogenius.

In addition to selecting the finalist that will be attending the Start.Up! Germany - NRW 2019 exposure trip, the aim of the event was to expose the startups to potential investors and foster a mutually beneficial business relationship between both parties.