Startup Battlefield Africa is right around the corner. This year it’s in Lagos, Nigeria on December 11. As usual, we have a stellar lineup of panels that will include investors and founders discussing issues such as blockchain, raising venture capital on the continent and beyond and much more.
And of course companies will compete in Startup Battlefield, our premier startup competition. Startup Battlefield consists of 15 teams competing in three preliminary rounds — five startups per round — which have only six minutes to pitch and present a live demo to a panel of expert technologists and VC investors. Five of the original 15 startups will be chosen to pitch a second time to a fresh set of judges. One startup will emerge the winner and receive a US$25,000 no-equity cash prize and win a trip for two to compete in the Startup Battlefield at TechCrunch Disrupt in 2019 (assuming the company still qualifies to compete at the time). You can apply for a limited supply of free spectator tickets here.
And now to announce our next batch of judges who will be grilling the startups after their pitches. See you in Lagos!
Titi Odunfa Adeoye, Sankore Investments
Titi Odunfa Adeoye is the founder and managing director of Sankore Investments, an investment platform that deploys capital across a range of asset classes on behalf of individuals and institutions. Sankore also runs an innovation arm that focuses on building new ventures and enabling early-stage enterprises in areas that are strategically important to the firm.
Prior to founding Sankore Investments, Titi was head of Investment Strategy at Zenith Capital, the investment banking subsidiary of Zenith Bank Nigeria. In her role, she led teams responsible for investment management, research and new product development within the asset management business. At Goldman Sachs in New York, Titi worked as a member of a team responsible for investment strategy, tactical asset allocation and portfolio advisory services for private funds. In this capacity, she developed research and investment expertise across a range of geographies and asset classes.
Her experience also covers restructuring, consulting, accounting and auditing with KPMG Consulting and PricewaterhouseCoopers in Washington, DC.
Temi Marcella Awogboro, Kairos Angels
Temi Marcella Awogboro is a co-founder of Kairos Angels, an investment club aiming to transform Africa by partnering with visionary entrepreneurs to build scalable and sustainable businesses on the Continent. Temi has more than a decade of experience in finance across developed and growth markets. As an investment professional, Temi has committed nearly US$500 million in private capital across strategic sectors in a bid to tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges.
Temi started her career at Goldman Sachs International, where she was a recipient of the Goldman Sachs and Institute of International Education’s Global Leaders Award. She is a Kauffman Venture Capital Fellow, an African Leadership Institute Tutu Fellow, a World Economic Forum Global Shaper (Lagos Hub) and Alumni Ambassador (London Hub).
Tahira Dosani, Accion Venture Lab
Tahira Dosani is the managing director of Accion Venture Lab, a seed-stage impact investing initiative focused on fintech for inclusion. Venture Lab provides capital and support to early-stage startups that leverage innovation to increase access to and quality of financial services for underserved consumers globally. Tahira works with the fund’s portfolio companies to provide strategic and operational expertise that accelerates their growth trajectories and enables stronger performance. Additionally, she supports investment decisions, manages portfolio relationships and drives the strategy and growth of Venture Lab.
Tahira previously led strategic projects at LeapFrog Investments, a specialist emerging market private equity impact fund focused on financial services. Prior to that, she worked as director of Strategy at the Aga Khan Fund for Economic Development. Based in Dubai, she drove strategic initiatives for portfolio companies and led new investments in telecoms, technology and infrastructure in South and Central Asia. She also worked at Roshan, Afghanistan’s leading telecommunications operator, where she was head of Corporate Strategy and helped launch the country’s first mobile money platform. Tahira began her career as a management consultant with Bain & Company in Boston.
Gaurav Dosi, Facebook
Gaurav leads product management for Jobs on Facebook. Most recently, he was listed as one of the top 10 most important people in HRTech in 2017 by ERE Media. Prior to Facebook, Gaurav co-founded a ridesharing company in New Delhi, which was acquired by Carzonrent. He started his career as a consultant at Boston Consulting Group.