The TC company Battlefield competition was won by TruQ, a logistics company that makes mid-mile logistics easier across Africa.
The new business won the ₦2.5 million cash prize by beating nine other entrants. The runner-up was Jamit, a social music network, which won ₦1.5 million.
At the TechCabal flagship Moonshot Conference, which just ended, there was a race. The goal of the TC Battlefield competition is to show the world the latest ideas from local startups.
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The first event, which Kwakol sponsored, only had Nigerian startups. These included Flickwheel, an auto tech startup; Stackjunior, an edtech platform; Powerful Technology Limited; Royalty.io, a music cataloging startup; Jamit, a social audio network; Payslice, a fintech startup; Fless, a money management platform for small business owners; Belarush, a food delivery startup; TruQ, a logistics startup; and Deepbux, a growth-as-a-startup service.
The competition was judged by Hope Dilthakanyane, investment principal at Founders Factory Africa, who also led the panel; Nela Ekpenyong, head of portfolio, Ingressive Capital; Uwem Uwemakpan, head of investments, Launch Africa VC Fund II; and Gloria Okorie, Republic venture.
TruQ keeps going strong
TruQ CEO Williams Fatayo said the result validates the startup’s work. TruQ previously received the 2023 Google Black Founders Fund.
The startup participated in Techstars 2022 and V8 Growth Labs. Fatayo said TruQ’s triumph coincided with the startup’s seed raise in the following days.
It’s co-founder and CEO Ike Orizu’s pride that the company won. He sees it as proof of how hard the team worked and how committed they were to doing their best.
Orizu told TechCabal in an interview that the money will be put back into the business. Orizu says that Jamit has gotten more global attention and recognition from both local and foreign audiences, in addition to the cash prize.
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Jamit was created by Stan Agbadugo and Ike Orizu in 2018 and is marketed as “the African podcaster’s platform, built with love from Africa, for African podcast listeners and creators.”
In 2019, the startup launched its first podcast. It then moved on to making and distributing podcasts, and in 2020, it became a podcast platform. Orizu says that the startup has teamed up with global giants Dolby and Sony and has more than 170 creators on its website.