The Mentor Matchup Challenge, an event designed to bridge the gap between older generation of entrepreneurs and millennials, drew a coterie of attendees including high profile businessmen and women to Oriental Hotel, Lagos on December 2, 2019.
According to the initiator and managing partner, 234Finance, Ezinne Nwazulu, Mentor Matchup Challenge came out of the experience working with her mum in the family’s oil and gas business. She explained further: “We put together the Mentor Matchup Challenge 2.0 because there is a huge knowledge gap between millennials and the generation before us. There is an urgent need for the two groups to interact, engage and learn from each other. Knowledge, they say, is power. The Mentor Matchup Challenge 2.0 bridges the knowledge-gap young Africans lack access to, for practical solutions to the challenges they face in running businesses.”
The event, which focused on six sectors of the economy, kicked off with a panel discussion themed: ‘Failure as a Roadmap to Success’. The panellists including Tania Omotayo, Akintunde Marinho, Richard Nnadi and Ferdinard Adimefe talked about how failures in their respective entrepreneurial journeys have propelled them to success. There were also presentations on Digital Marketing, Legal and Capital Raising by Adetutu Adetumbi, founder, The Digital Tinker; Nnamdi Ekwem, founder and managing partner, Frederick & Co, and Senami Johnson; head, Meristem Capital respectively. This was followed by mentorship sessions, which allowed successful entrepreneurs to share their insights with budding entrepreneurs and proffer practical solutions to challenges being faced in their businesses. The mentors were Vincent Egbe, Uche-Lotanna Anajemba, Benedicta Ogar, Funmilayo Falola, and Sheila Ojei.
The major highlight of the event was the pitching segment in which 10 businesses across the six sectors of interest pitched their ideas to investors. In all, three businesses emerged as winners; smiling home with seed funding from 234Finance’s network of investors, business valuations by Meristem Capital, 1-year legal retainer by Bloomfield Law, and training slots in the Fintech Foundation course offered by the Enterprise Innovation Hub of the Nigerian Stock Exchange. Yogurmac Foods emerged as the grand winner while Nwachinerem Farms was declared the first runner-up and KR Foods the second runner-up.
Other dignitaries that graced the event were Mrs. Godrey Ogbechie, Group Executive Director, Rainoil Ltd; Babatunde Obrimah, Chief Operations Officer, Fintech Association of Nigeria; Mrs. Nneoma Johnson-Chukwu, Managing Director/CEO, Virgin Forest Energy Ltd; Chima Anyaso, chairman, Caades Group; Ejike Egbuagu, CEO, Moneda Invest; and Ngozi Ekeoma, MD/CEO, Nepal Oil & Gas Ltd.