Senegal’s Kwely Wins the 2022 MEST Africa Challenge Pitch Competition
Summary
The female-founded startup emerged as the winner out of four other startup finalists; Sproutly (Nigeria), Swoove (Ghana), Hisa (Kenya), and Desert Green Africa (South Africa) following invigorating pitches from all finalists:Digital Banking, Tuition Financing for Teens & Students and Payments, Education Management and Credits for Schools. Learn more https://sproutlyhq.com/Swoove is a last-mile delivery and fulfillment tech startup building e-commerce infrastructure for SMEs and commerce companies on the continent. Learn more www.desertgreen.co.zaSpeaking on the MEST Africa Challenges Grand finale, MEST Africas Director of Portfolio, Melissa Nsiah said:This years MAC competition had 5 winners from each of our key markets. But with the help of our judges and boisterous live and virtual audience, a final overall winner emerged in Birame Sock of Kwely from Senegal. We are truly grateful for their partnership and demonstrated dedication toward entrepreneurs on the continent.We are also thankful for the contributions and support of our partners; CodeLn, Copianto, Google For Startups, Dream VC, Heny, Impact Hub- Dakar, Hubspot for Startups, Paystack, and Wiflix who are providing participating startups with exciting perks and prizes.MEST Africa Challenge (MAC), is a pan-African start-up pitch competition, launched with the aim of providing a stage for technology startups to raise funding, build industry networks and gain global visibility.In its fourth year, the competition received hundreds of applications from technology startups in 5 African markets Ghana, Nigeria, Kenya, Senegal, and South Africa to compete on a global stage for up to $50,000 in equity investment and a lifetime of support from MEST Africas global community.