HostelsVilla has won the pitch exercise conducted at the 4th Edition of the CFA’s Startups Hangout.
HostelsVilla.com competed alongside other three startups, Placement, AdQuet, and Infinite Medix, thus won the pitch after meeting all criteria.
HostelsVilla is a hyper-local online, off-campus student accommodation booking and roommate finding platform.
The platform integrates the whole long process of searching, contacting owners, booking hostels and roommates into one safe & secured, free-to-use and hassle-free platform.
Announcing the winner for the CFA’s Startups Hangout Pitch exercise, Helen Anatogu, CEO, iDea Nigeria Limited, said all the entrepreneurs did well to have pitched their startups to the audience, but Hostelvilla had met certain criteria.
“We are looking at startups that would solve problems, that is the criteria and Hostelvilla had come up with solutions on how to tackle accommodation issues in our tertiary institutions.
Other startups also provided different solutions to certain problems but we chose the startup that is solving the most pressing problems,” iDea Nigeria boss said.
She charged all entrepreneurs at the event to always understand the elements of market, stressing that there was no need to provide a solution without identifying a challenge.
She lamented that developers were becoming too egoistic, developing and writing series of codes that are solving no problem.
“I see a lot of Nigerians writing beautiful codes that solve no problem. How many developers are going into the streets to conduct research and surveys to know exactly what the people need, she asked.
“You have to go into the streets and carry out a research before you start providing solution. If you come to my office and quote market research statistics from Delloite, I will throw you out of my office,” she said.
In his submission, Yele Okeremi, CEO, Precise Financial Systems, said he was impressed with all the entrepreneurs that pitched their startups, in as much as all the startups are providing solutions to certain problems.
He said all the entrepreneurs at the meet-up were capable of providing solutions that would solve global problems.
Yele encouraged entrepreneurs not to relent in their entrepreneurial journey, “just as there is always a price for success”, he added.
Expressing his feelings, Joel Amawhe, Founder of Hostelsvilla, said he is extremely glad to have been announced the winner, irrespective of the beautiful ideas from other entrepreneurs who partook in the exercise.
“I feel extremely excited and this is another plus for Hostelvilla. It is a sign that what we are doing is good.
Let me also thank the team to have come up with such initiative, it’s a huge opportunity for us”, he added.
