5 Female Led startups in Nigeria

Startups are said to be businesses that have a scalable and repeatable model, at some points after going through growth stages and are still in business these startups become a company. In the last decade, there has been an exponential increase in startups all over the world.

Not surprisingly, females have also founded and led a good number of these startups, and these startups are doing amazing feats in their respective ecosystem.

From the health sector to the environmental and even financial sectors, these females have made their astounding mark.

Listed below are five female-owned and led startups in Nigeria that standout in their businesses,

PiggyBank

This is a fintech startup that helps people save money with a percentage interest. Co-founder by Odunayo Eweniyi and two of her male colleagues from Covenant University and currently serves as the Chief Operations Officer at PiggyBank.ng

PiggyBank saving platform has a unique feature that helps instil discipline in their clients and people have come to appreciate it over the years.

PiggyBank charges a percentage on withdrawals made on non-withdrawals days on their platform, and the platform has just four withdrawal days per annum. If that isn’t amazing this author doesn’t know what else is.

WeCyclers

Founded in 2012 by Bilikiss Adebiyi-Abiola, an MBA holder who studied at the prestigious MIT.

Bilikiss is said to have developed the idea for this startup while still schooling there and came back to Nigeria to implement it.

Until she was appointed the Lagos State Parks and Gardens Agency General Manager, she served as the CEO of WeCyclers.

WeCyclers provides recycling services for offices and households in Nigeria especially Lagos which is home to this startup.

This startup has the mission of helping low-income individuals and communities in developing countries solve their waste disposal issues and also get rewarded by so doing.

Also read, 8 African Women-Led Startups that raised Funding in 2020

WeCyclers use a modified tricycle to do rounds for waste collections and households that trash with them are given points which when accumulated over time gets them items ranging from food items to cleaning products.

LifeBank

This is a HealthTech startup founded in 2016 by Temie Giwa-Tubosun. LifeBank is focused on ensuring healthcare centres and patients have access to blood for transfusion as soon as possible whenever needed.

LifeBank in collaboration with volunteer donors, blood banks and hospitals ensure the steady availability of blood. LifeBank also runs a logistics firm alongside to enable the transport of this blood.

Flying Doctors Nigeria

This is also a healthcare startup, founded by Ola Orekunrin a medical doctor. Flying Doctors is an air ambulance service that is run by medics, to give necessary first aid on air even while en-route to hospital.

Ola, a graduate from the University of York, UK, started Flying Doctors when she lost her sister due to delayed transport service during a sickle- cell anaemia crisis as available clinics couldn’t manage the crisis.

Flying Doctors Nigeria is the first Air Ambulance Service in West Africa.

iBez

This is an innovative conglomerate startup that does not just offer technological services, they also offer home repairs services and are also set to launch their house security check project in the second quarter of this year in which a house owner or tenant checks out the prospective landlord or tenant.

iBez founded by Ommo Clark is doing amazing things in the tech ecosystem, she doesn’t only develop software products she also trains people and showcases these talents when they are nurtured.

About the author

Chibuzor Elizabeth Chijioke a graduate of Abia State University is a Nigerian based entrepreneur and content writer. She trained as a digital marketer at Innovation Growth Hub.  She is committed to teaching people how to apply technology to better their lives and businesses. She spends her leisure reading sci-fi and fantasy novels.

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