PharmaRun wins $10,000 Pitch2Win startup competition

PharmaRun an online platform where users can find and order pharmaceutical products and services, with BNPL options, has emerged winner of the 2023 Pitch2Win $10,000 startup competition.  

Recall that a week earlier, Pitch2win announced its $10,000 pitching program for Web2 and Web3 startups

PharmaRun was launched in 2021 by 2-decade best friend co-founders Teniola Adedeji and Funmilola Aderemi, to eliminate the barriers of traditional pharmacies which often run out of stock and force customers to buy alternatives they don’t want to.

Also, according to Adedeji, “We’re living in a bubble in Lagos and Abuja. States like Jigawa have only two pharmacies, so we get orders from across the country.”

PharmaRun

PharmaRun which currently generates over $18,000 in monthly revenue, emerged as the winner, for the size of the opportunity, the scale of the problem, and the team’s execution, among a few other factors.  Speaking on the win, Adedeji delightedly shared

“This was our first time pitching to an audience, so it is amazing that we won. It’s given us validation that this is a product that is scalable, and we are unto something. Having to compete with founders that are well-known, yet we won? It’s amazing.”    

“We’re looking to raise $500,000 for product development and customer acquisition and Pitch2Win is offering us visibility and access to investors. So we’re very thankful,” she adds as the next steps for the startup.  

ZeroComplex AI

The second-place winner was ZeroComplex AI. The AI startup is simplifying the integration of AI into existing applications or the development of AI products and services.

Founded by Kehinde Olateru, Adegbenga Agoro, and Olusola Adebayo, ZeroComplex AI offers a proprietary AI-API platform that empowers small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) and startups to harness the power of Artificial Intelligence.  

Oystr Finance

The third-place startup was Oystr, is a fintech startup that provides easy access to alternative financial data, creditworthiness, and identification verification of borrowers across Africa. Oystr Finance was also selected in the inaugural ARM Labs Lagos Techstars Accelerator and got funding of up to $120,000.

Founded by Ifedolapo Lawal and Omotayo Iginla, the startup is enabling businesses in Africa to extend affordable micro-loans to the unbanked and underbanked.  The judges consisted of Ventures Platform Partner Kola Aina, TLCom Capital Partner Eloho Omame, SG Verse founder Hiro Mashita, Freakout Holdings founder Yuzuru Honda and, Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority CIO Kola Owodunni.    

On an investment panel in between the pitch competition titled: The funding part is over, what next?, Ingressive Capital founder Maya Famodu shared that though there’s a global reduction in startup investment, capital is still being deployed in Africa.

“We are going to be announcing our second fundraise in the coming months. We’re actively deploying and we have a meaningful fund too in which we have made 17 investments and we anticipate making ten more before the year ends, so come, talk to me. We’re deploying. We have money. I’m sitting on a panel with people who are writing cheques. I know because we sit on similar cap tables,” she shared.  

Voltron Capital founder Olumide Soyombo, who was also on the panel, shared that he’s actively investing and is open to investing in promising startups competing in Pitch2Win with sensible valuation.