Venture Competition

What is it?

At WABF25, we aim to connect promising early-stage African entrepreneurs to a powerful network of investors, mentors, and coaches to accelerate their growth, and provide them with resources they can use to develop into regional powerhouses.

As part of this initiative, the Wharton African Student Association is pleased to announce the 4th Annual Venture Competition at this year’s conference. Contestants will submit an application outlining their start-up or idea, and we will select finalists to pitch to an experienced panel of judges and the audience at the conference.

If you believe that your idea has what it takes, please read through the eligibility details below. The application deadline is October 15, 2017 11:59 EST

Announcing our finalists!

• Bright Future Bright Future makes studying at night easier for students in power-deprived areas around the world. With our technology and upcoming intellectual property, we reinvent the conventional pen and pack it with a LED light to facilitate nighttime studying. www.brightfuturepens.com
• MDaaS MDaaS helps Nigerian health providers overcome the widespread challenges of sourcing, financing, and maintaining vital medical equipment. We “invest” high-quality equipment and technical expertise in a health center for no upfront cost and share profits generated from equipment use. www.mdaasnigeria.com
• MWAYI Mwayi is an e-commerce ethical fashion brand that creates bespoke, made-to-measure African print womenswear. Equal parts vocational training program and online retailer, Mwayi aims to empower at-risk women in Malawi while simultaneously producing high-quality, tailor-made garments. www.mymwayi.com
• Olori Olori offers premium African-inspired handbags that make women feel strong, confident and secure while empowering underprivileged girls … because real queens fix each others crowns. www.beolori.com
• OZE OZÉ is a mobile app that empowers small business owners to make data driven decisions. We aggregate and analyze business data to create dashboards and push plan-language recommendations to improve performance. www.oze.guru
• Redbird Health Tech Redbird Health Tech is changing the way patients interact with the Ghanaian healthcare system to better combat the rising burden of non-communicable and chronic disease, supplying pharmacies with the tools and skills necessary to become new centers of convenient care. www.redbirdht.com
• ScholarX ScholarX is a social impact startup that focuses on Education Financing to help young Africans gain equitable access to education through Scholarships, Tuition Crowdfunding (Village) and low interest intervention loans (Smart Scholar). https://www.scholarx.co
• SolarLuv SolarLuv aspires to electrify millions of families in Sub-Saharan Africa through stable, clean, affordable power. In so doing, we also seek to empower, connect, and improve local communities by integrating solutions addressing basic needs (water, transportation, connectivity) into our products.