Ghanaian startup Trukrtech wins N1m at TechCircle’s Pitch2Win competition

Truckrtech, an online marketplace for listing and booking of third-party trucks based in Ghana has won N1 million equity-free funding at the 2019 edition of Pitch2Win competition held in Lagos. It scaled through a selection process with 10 finalists to win the third edition of the competition which began in 2016.

The winning startup, TruckrTech impressed Judges with its scalability potential to multiply their trucks and expand services beyond Ghana.

“We did our pilot between January and April and started full operations in May 2019. Between May and June, we’ve done $12,000 in revenue. We can look to 15% month on month revenue increase with this funding from Pitch2Win,” TruckrTech founder Caryl Akonor said.

The panel of judges included Dr Ola Brown of FlyingDoctors & Greentree Capital Investments, Dr Femi Kuti Reliance HMO, Yuzuru Honda Freakout Holdings, Babara Iyayi, Lateral Capital/Element Inc. and Hiro Mashita M&S partners.

Pitch2Win runner-ups were Asusu, a SaaS startup digitising the financial activities of low income and daily earners, and Prodigy, a school management software based in Nigeria.

The Pitch2Win competition initiated by TechCircle, in partnership with Japan’s FreakOut Holdings aims to find and empower the most disruptive startups in Nigeria with local and international investment opportunities.

Founded in 2018 by Caryl Joshua Akonor, Truckrtech offers real-time visibility, cargo-in-transit insurance and proper communication channels to shippers and drivers.

Oo Nwoye, the founder of TechCircle, said all 10 selected startups that pitched were exceptional and satisfactory in connecting to a pool of investors.

“As I always say, Pitch2Win is more like a match-making event for young startups and investors. We had investors fly in from Japan, scouting for young emerging businesses to help scale and it’s amazing they got what they came for. I am particularly happy for the winning startup. The founder took a bold step to fly in from Ghana, and thankfully, his self-belief brought a positive outcome”

Yuzuru Honda CEO, Freakout Holdings, equally noted “This is a great event and it’s amazing to be part of it. This is my first time in Nigeria and I am very excited about the energy of young startups in this space. We definitely look to doing more”

Asides the grand prize, participating startups had a one-on-one relation with international investors. They networked with a diverse audience of stakeholders, fellow entrepreneurs, policymakers, and potential partners.