By Catrijn Schipper (Investment Manager at Invest International)
🇳🇱 > 🇳🇬 Last week, my colleagues Ivo van der Horst, David Moonen and myself had the opportunity to visit Nigeria. The goal was to visit several start-up clients that we are financing as Invest International 🚀 We got our boots on the ground in Lagos, to see the opportunities but also the challenges that these start-ups are facing in Nigeria.
🏥 First up was Platos, founded by Oladimeji Joseph Fakayode. Platos built an e-health monitoring platform and app for chronic disease care. The company focuses on treating diabetes and hypertension in Nigeria. It was very impressive to see and experience real-life the positive impact Platos is making on the lives of people living with diabetes and hypertension in Nigeria.
🛒 Next up was Open Retail BV, founded by Akan Odu. Open Retail is a tech company, and created the ‘Wazobia Marketplace’ app to connect small retailers and wholesalers and microfinance banks. We met with a wholesaler and several small retailers/shopkeepers, for whom it is now much easier to run their businesses.
💻 Last -but certainly not least- was Zarttech, founded by Nelson T. Ajulo, PhD. Zarttech is active in the field of IT-outsourcing. Zarttech offers training programs and international recruitment services to Nigerian tech talents. The end goal is to provide equal (work) opportunities for Nigerian tech talents.
We also organized and co-hosted 2 events with the colleagues from the Dutch Consulate in Lagos: a Dutch-Nigerian company dinner and a tech roundtable. Many thanks to
Michel Deelen and Leonie Van der Stijl and team for gathering this great group of people!
All in all, the trip was a great success 🙌🏼 It was our first time in Nigeria, and we were really inspired by the endless optimism and resilience of the Nigerian people. It was very impressive and inspirational to see what the founders and their local teams have achieved so far in building up their businesses in Nigeria. A huge thank you to Joseph, Akan and Nelson and all team members for receiving us and making this an unforgettable experience for us 🙏🏼
