Two startups, Ghana-based Finer Foods Company and Nigeria-based Baby Grubz, won $15,000 and $10,000 respectively at the Affordable Nutrition Forum presented by Village Capital and The Hershey Company.
The forum was a showcase for ten startups from Ghana, Nigeria and Cote d’Ivoire working to make nutrition more affordable and accessible in West Africa.
The day-long forum, saw 10 entrepreneurs go through sessions to evaluate their businesses and discuss key strategic challenges with mentors, with the day ending with a public pitch event.
Finer Foods Company, which makes fortified porridge and weaning cereals and counts the Princess Marie Louise Hospital as a customer, was selected by a vote of the ten startups for the $15,000 “peer selected prize”.
Baby Grubz, which makes nutritious and locally-produced baby foods in Nigeria and an online community of nearly 127,000 mothers, was selected by the event’s audience to win the $10,000 “audience prize”.
One major challenge of West African economies like Ghana, Nigeria, and Côte d’Ivoire which continue to grow rapidly is healthy and affordable nutrition for children.
In Ghana, UNICEF estimates that 57% of children under five are anemic, 23% are stunted, and 30,000 children suffer from Severe Acute Malnutrition every year. General Manager of Finer Foods Company Anita Agyare, said the cash prize would go a long way to pushing her agenda of producing healthy and affordable food for children
“We are profoundly grateful for the great opportunity given to us to meet potential investors, interact with mentors and receive such immense recognition for our work which has set the stage for financiers to come on board. We feel highly encouraged and motivated to do more in fighting malnutrition. The prize money will be used immediately, to automate our packaging line. We are in touch with some of the financiers and hope to get the necessary funding for machinery to produce very large volumes and reach more people, especially the vulnerable. We remain highly committed to fighting malnutrition in Africa with nutrient-dense foods at the most affordable price.”
Seun Sangoleye, Founder and CEO of Baby Grubz,SeunSangoleye also expressed his commitment to use his cash prize to further push the agenda for healthy and affordable food
“This money will help us procure a sachet filling and packaging machine and a ribbon mixer, to produce smaller quantities with fortifications which will enable our products to reach the bottom of the pyramid and make nutrition even more affordable and accessible.”
Village Capital is a global venture capital firm that finds, trains and invests in entrepreneurs solving real-world problems. Since 2009 we have invested in over 70 ventures across 15 countries and supported hundreds more through ourcollaborative investment-readiness programs. Village Capital graduates have leveraged initial capital
Join GhanaStar.com to receive daily email alerts of breaking news in Ghana. GhanaStar.com is your source for all Ghana News. Get the latest Ghana news, breaking news, sports, politics, entertainment and more about Ghana, Africa and beyond.
(Via: CitiFM Online Ghana)
