The Startup World Cup’s regional competition is scheduled to hold in Abuja in May, giving African startups a chance to pitch for a place at the global finals and compete for a $1 million investment prize.
The competition will run as part of the RegTech Africa Conference and Exhibition in Nigeria’s capital, in partnership with Pegasus Tech Ventures, the organiser of the global Startup World Cup pitch series. Startups across sectors such as fintech, regtech, payments, AI, cybersecurity, digital identity, healthtech, agritech, e-commerce and climate tech can apply to compete.
The Abuja event will select one top startup to represent the region at the Startup World Cup global finals, where companies pitch for investor backing and international exposure. Finalists in Abuja will pitch live to a jury of venture capitalists and industry leaders, according to the organisers.
RegTech Africa chief executive officer, Cyril Okoroigwe said bringing the Startup World Cup qualifier to Abuja is meant to tighten the link between innovation, regulation and capital. He framed the competition as a route for founders to reach global investors and partners while building solutions that can scale across African markets.
For startups, the draw is not only the prize money. The audience typically includes regulators, corporate decision makers, investors and ecosystem partners, which can speed up pilots, partnerships and fundraising for companies building in heavily regulated sectors like finance, identity and cybersecurity.
Applications are open, and the organisers urged startups to register early.