Ghana Tech Lab, a tech-inclined entity that focuses on conceiving, nurturing and supporting startups in Ghana successfully organized its semi-annual summit dubbed the Ghana Startups Summit at the Accra Digital Center, Circle.
The 6th Ghana Startups Summit took place from the 24th November, 2022 to 1st December, 2022 and witnessed close to 51 startups pitch their bright and innovative ideas in front of a panel of judges, industry-agnostic investors, government representatives, the media and the general public across four main pitch events namely the Ghana Ladies in Tech Summit (GLiTS), the School to Startups Summit, the National Incubation Pitch Day and the National Acceleration Pitch Day. The summit usually climaxes Ghana Tech Lab’s flagship Base Innovation Program and the National Acceleration Program which is under the Pathway to Sustainable Employment, an initiative which has Mastercard Foundation, The Word Bank and The Ministry of Communication as partners. The entire week-long summit was graced by over 300 attendees physically, not to talk about the massive views on social media as well.
The 6th Ghana Startups Summit which was christened ‘Digitalising Entrepreneurship for Job Creation Opportunities for the Ghanaian Youth’ kicked off with an official launch via a radio interview on popular radio station Citi fm. Daniel Kwabena Owusu, the Ecosystem Lead and Patrick Godwin Ankrah, an Investment Associate at Ghana Tech Lab were on air on Thursday, 24th November to elaborate the impacts of Ghana Tech Lab in the startup entrepreneurial ecosystem and highlight the key events that would herald the week-long summit.
On Friday, 25th November, the 2nd edition of the Ghana Ladies in Tech Summit (GLiTS) was held. The GLiTS witnessed 6 startups that qualified from various GLiTS communities pitch their ideas to the panel of judges and the audience. Savannah Tours, a tourism focused startup that leverages on web app to bridge the gap between tourists and tourist sites emerge winners taking home a cash prize of GHS 5,000. Fabricplast Ghana and Vergg App were first and second runner-up taking home GHS 3,000 and GHS 2,000 respectively. In addition, 14 deserving females making a mark in tech were honoured with various accolades ranging from Student Entrepreneur of the year to FemTech Champion of the year.
The event continued on Monday, 28th November. The maiden edition of the School to Startup Summit took place on this day and witnessed 3 startups that emanated from the previous cohort of the National Service Program pitch their excellent business ideas in front of apanel of judges and the audience. Mr. Michael Costa, co-founder of SPARK and Mrs. Winnie Dzidonu, Platform Manager of Ayoba, MTN constituted the judging panel for the day. Caresport, a health-tech startup that seeks to provide private nurses for the elderly, disabled and sick patients emerged winners of the School to Startup Summit and were duly rewarded with a cash prize of GHS 5,000.
The National Incubation Pitch Day followed on Wednesday, 30th November and witnessed 25 burgeoning startups across all 25 partner hubs that have been birthed from the Base Innovation Program pitch their ideas in front of a packed audience. Forming the judging panel were Mr. Farouk Khailann, Chief Executive Officer of Premium Africa Holdings, Mr. Solomon Owuraku Ashia and Mr. Theophilus Forson, Analyst at Black Star Advisors. SamShea, an e-commerce platform that connects buyers and sellers to all kinds of shea products from iValley, a startup hub in Damongo, Savannah Region emerged winners of the pitch event taking home GHS 5,000. Yawofo Daily Care from Duapa Werkspace and Smart Meals from Noni Hub were first and second runner-ups respectively.
The much-anticipated National Acceleration Pitch Day was held on Thursday, 1st December with 15 burgeoning startups birthed from the National Acceleration Program pitching their ideas. On the judging panel were Leah Nduati, Accelerator Specialist with The Room, Daniel Kwakwu Merki, CEO of Boxplay Ventures and Dinah Hammond-Afful, co-founder and Principal Advisor with InvestPro Advisors Limited. At the end of the pitch event, Lanto’s Creative from Icode, a hub based in the Central Region emerged the winner taking home a whopping GHS 10,000. Oceans Mall Ghana Limited from 131 Sunflower Hub and Vitza Edu from Ghana Tech Lab were first and second runner-ups respectively.
The last event of the summit was the graduation of the first crop of startup coaches at the Startup Coach School Graduation ceremony. After passing 5 training models, all was set for the groomed coaches to graduate. In all, eleven coaches graduated with four being bronze graduates, six silver graduates and one gold graduate. Emmanuella Appiah, the valedictorian for the day and the sole gold graduate delivered the valedictorian speech. Also graduating was Baaba Simpson, a Business Development Associate at Ghana Tech Lab.
