Weekly Wrap | 21st May 

The Big Story

Good day  , 

“In the beginning of every difficulty lies an opportunity.” Albert Einstein.

Just like every other year, 2020 started with a bang and many startups hit the ground running with their blueprints drafted and set for execution. Little did the world know that Covid-19 pandemic would emerge to shake the world to its limits with the ripple effect that would cripple the global economy on an unimaginable scale; beginning with the first quarter and currently into the second quarter of the year.

As Startups across many parts of the world including AirBnB and Uber are feeling the hit of the pandemic, one may wish to ask: where has this pandemic left the Nigerian startup ecosystem?

Is there a glimmer of hope for businesses to thrive within our tech space at such a trying time?

We recently wrote an insightful article on how some of the startups in Nigeria’s startup ecosystem are responding to COVID-19, read here 

As Albert Einstein said, “there is no better time to startup but in difficulty”, even eagles learn to soar in raging storms. In a world that is ever changing, take a look at startups who are doing the best they can to serve humanity, learn a thing or two and scale through.

Are you discouraged? Well, it is normal to be, but you can rise up, beat the odds and do the unimaginable to see unimaginable results in such an unimaginable time.

Here are some startup stories to encourage you some more today.

 Stories not to miss
Here are a few big news items from the Startup Scene

• Forbes8 announces Nigeria’s First Resilience Digital Startup Accelerator program. The free virtual accelerator will welcome 100 top companies from Nigeria. Founders selected for the program will undergo 4 intensive weeks of digital training to help build and scale their companies for the future. Applications are now open and close on May 26th. Apply Now.
• DFID Offer £50,000 Covid Grants for Innovative Solutions  DFID Frontiers Tech Hub is Looking for Startups/Innovators Working on Life saving Personal Protective Equipment(PPE) as Well as Day-to Day items in response to local needs. Winners will receive - Rapid deployment of grant funding of up to £50,000 Read More 
• GSMA Innovation Fund for Mobile Internet Adoption and Digital Inclusion. Are you a start-up or SME in Sub-Saharan Africa or Asia? Are you helping people get online for the first time using mobile internet? You could be eligible to apply for an equity-free grant of between £100,000 and £250,000 to scale your innovation over a 15- to 18-month period. Find out more below. Apply here
• Opera's OPay still plans Africa expansion on Nigerian super app. OPay remains committed to building a multi-service super app in Nigeria as the foundation to expand on the continent. OPay also continues to operate ORide for limited passenger service — though the company is shifting the motorcycle ride-hail operation toward logistics businesses. These were some of the updates offered by Opera’s Derrick Nueman, a VP of Investor Relations and advisor to OPay. Read More 

• Twitter rolls out Quoted Reply Bot feature developed by a Nigerian. Recently, Twitter rolled out a new feature that allows users see the number of times a post has been retweeted with comments. This is following the move by Jack Dorsey at his visit to Nigeria 7 months ago where he offered Dara Oladosu, a Nigerian Developer, a job. Read more
• Global aircraft manufacturer, Airbus, announces partnership with Koniku       A Nigerian-founded biotech company, Koniku, secures an aircraft and airport security deal with Airbus. This partnership aims at co-developing solutions for detecting biological hazards, and spotting chemical and explosive threats. Read more
• Helium Health, Nigerian health-tech startup, raises $10m and offers loans to hospitals across Africa.   After raising millions of dollars in seed funding, Helium Health aims to digitize hospital records using its flagship product, Hospital Management Information System (HMIS), and solve the problems of finance for hospitals. Read more
• Nigerian Startup, Andela, lays off about 130 workers to adapt to new operation model.    In just a few days since Andela laid off some of its employees, the company has kick-started the process of transitioning into its new model of operations i.e. going remote by putting out placement offers to non-employees. Read more

• Novastar Ventures closes $108m second fund, targets startups in East & West Africa.    With offices in Nairobi and Lagos, VC Firm, Novastar Ventures raises a second fund targeting businesses in Eastern and Western Africa where positive social impact for low-income households is a natural by-product of their commercial success. Read more

• WOWBii Interactive works with Nigerian State Governors to establish immersive virtual interactions.  Africa’s first manufacturer of Interactive Flat Panel Displays (IFDP), WOWBii Interactive, is readying Nigerian State Governors for virtual meetings and collaborations to remain in Business-As-Usual mode despite the global pandemic. Read more

Virtual Event Happenings

Job & Opportunities 
Funding, Events, other opportunities 

Job Board

Ruff n Tumble seeks to hire an E-commerce specialist. Apply here

 HNG Internship Apply Here

Technical Support Engineer needed at Andela. Apply here.

About Us

Startup Lagos is a grassroots network of entrepreneurs (Startups, SME’s ) working together to build an environment for entrepreneurship in Nigeria. brought to you by Prime Startups

We want to see more tech-enabled companies start and scale in Nigeria! Supporting entrepreneurs as they build and grow tech-enabled products & companies is at the heart of Startup Lagos

Enjoyed reading this newsletter? Be generous and Share on Facebook or Twitter or LinkedIn or WhatsApp You're receiving this email because you either visited one of our events, are a member of our LinkedIn or Facebook group or signed up for our newsletter.