History was made at Heartland Incubation Hub as Slush Global Impact Accelerator, The Shortcut School of Start-ups had their first session of workshops outside of Finland to support impact entrepreneurs globally. The project was officially launched in Nigeria at Heartland Incubation Hub– Oluaka Institute Owerri.
The Shortcut is a community-driven organisation in Finland that promotes diversity as an engine for growth and encourage more people from diverse backgrounds to consider creating or working for a start-up to best utilise their skills and aspirations.
The 2-day Workshop which was held on August 29 and 30, 2018 was a build-up to the final pitch Event on August 31st. Similar workshops will hold in other countries
Heartland Hub partnered with Slush GIA 2018 to run the local Bootcamp from August 6- 31, 2018 as part of its program to deepen impact and capacity for the shortlisted impact entrepreneurs. The Hub had the honour to host Nina Martin and Tomi Kaukinen for 3 days and they also stayed back to be part of the Final Pitch Event.
Nina Martin experience comes from leading, documenting and consulting on projects empowering marginal groups of society in Finland, Lebanon, Germany, Mexico and South Africa among others. Tomi Kaukinen from Helsinki, Finland is an ex-investment specialist turned serial entrepreneur and has scaled his businesses globally.
The workshops which were designed for the shortlisted start-ups was also opened to impact entrepreneurs in the ecosystem to learn, connect and build their capacity. 4 sessions were delivered in total and 3+ hours of office session with the start-up for the 2 days of the workshop.
12 Shortlisted Startup from over 160 applications pitched on the final event day and 3 startups made the final cut- Arone, Gerocare and Afagreen.
Arone Provides fleet of Arones (drones) along with access to a network of solar-powered battery swap stations to businesses in industries such as medical product delivery, E-Commerce and Food delivery.
Gerocare Provides regular doctor home visits to the elderly as a subscription-based service.
Afagreen formerly Eco-Fun is a start-up that recycles paper into unique and quality products like, Chairs, Tables, Stools, Decorative Art works etc. for both Interior and Exterior uses. 95% of all products made are from waste paper.
The Pitching competition which was judged by Chukwuemeka Fred Agbata, Tech Trends on Channel TV, Nnamdi Anika, of Genesys Tech Hub and Otehiri Odjeni of PIND Foundation had over 100 people in attendance.
