Founders Live 4th Edition.
[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]Founders Live is a place where world-class entrepreneurs are made and it inspires creative innovators through fun live events – both physical and virtual. It is an unforgettable happy hour event where up to five startups pitch their ideas in only 99-seconds. The presenters pitch their value proposition to an eager audience that votes for a winner. Founders Live Harare is run by Impact Hub Harare and the 4th edition was held on 24 May 2019, bringing together startups within diverse industries including energy, agriculture and healthcare.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]First up on the mic was Farai Pyro, a Zimbabwe-based company converting waste plastic into diesel and selling it at $2 per litre. To that end, they are engaging street kids, clean up campaigns and corporates to collect plastic waste.
Pyro’s objective is to create employment and reduce Zimbabwe’s carbon footprint. Pyro is seeking an investment of USD75,000 in order to purchase equipment to scale up to at least 10,000 litres of diesel per day with an estimated payback period of less than two years.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”19467″ img_size=”450*300″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”19465″ img_size=”1000*900″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]The second startup of the night was Fortek (vaMudhumeni The Roots Farmers Market), an organization which offers agricultural extension advisory services, consultancy, drip irrigation systems & agricultural project management. Fortek uses tech-based solutions that link farmers with buyers to curb urban farming challenges VaMudhumeni is determined to attack the mismatch of resources in Zimbabwe and thereby reduce hunger, waste & poverty. Roots Farmers also shares knowledge on post-harvest management for customers to receive value products at the market and remote identification of plants and pests. Currently, their revenue streams are largely derived from courses on monetizing & maximizing urban and peri-urban farming. In the future, the plan is to initiate paid advertising on their mobile app, website, social media sites and sell agricultural products branded with the Roots Farmers Market logo.
[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]Mufushwa Lite, a solar-powered cold storage facility for smallholder farmers and fresh produce markets was the third start-up to pitch. Their main goal is to prolong the shelf life of farm produce at Mbare Msika and other such markets as well as reduce post-harvest losses. Currently, over 50% of produce spoils before reaching the consumer and is often sold below market value in order to recuperate costs. Mufushwa’s strategic cooling facilities extend shelf life of the product from 2 days up to 21 days with a flexible pay per use subscription of $1.00 over 24 hours, giving gross revenue of $9, 000 per month from just 10% of the target market.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”19463″ img_size=”large”][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_media_grid style=”load-more” items_per_page=”3″ grid_id=”vc_gid:1560588465008-cafd16ecd68a7f6250fc482a9ae44db2-6″ include=”19468,19479,19483,19469,19470,19471,19472,19473,19474,19475,19476,19477,19478,19480,19481,19482,19484,19465,19464,19463,19467″][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_single_image image=”19477″ img_size=”450*300″][/vc_column][vc_column width=”1/2″][vc_column_text]The final pitch of the night came from Pad Up, an organization focusing on the manufacturing and distribution of reusable pads to marginalized girls & women as well as the tree-hugging fanatic thereby ending period poverty & stigmatization.
Pad Up also reduces the carbon footprint by drastically diminishing the use of plastic pads. They also educate men on the menstrual cycle & debunk the idea that women are the only ones who should worry about menstrual health issues. Their ask was $USD 5, 000 to produce 2,000 packets for mass distribution.[/vc_column_text][/vc_column][/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]After the pitches, it was time for the audience to do the heavy lifting and choose a winner. Fortek (VaMudhumeni) won the night! All the startups that pitched received $5,000 in-kind from Amazon Web Services and the winner receives incubation at Impact Hub Harare. The audience stuck around after the event to talk to each other and the pitching start-ups.
Many thanks to our sponsors and friends from Area 46 Productions and Utande for making the event memorable. Nick Hughes, the founder of Founders Live, will be in Harare this coming October so email [email protected] if you’d like an opportunity to meet with him.
The award package for edition 5 will also include $20,000 worth of Google cloud credits.:
Google Cloud for Startups – $20,000 Cloud credits
Congratulations! Google is pleased to offer access to our Spark Program for the winning company. The Spark Program includes $20,000 Cloud credits for one year, which can be applied to all Google Cloud Platform Firebase products, as well as G Suite credits, $200/month for Google Maps API, training opportunities, six months free of “Hire by Google” and $500 in Qwiklabs credits.
For details about the next event please follow our social media pages @ImpactHubHarare and visit our website www.impacthubharare.net
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