Project NINJA

JICA and the Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Ethiopia (MinT) are pleased to announce that on December 9, 2022, we held the "Ethiopia Startup Innovation Pitch" as Project NINJA (Next Innovation with Japan) (see *1 below), with nearly 300 people from Japan and around the world online and about 50 Ethiopian startups and related persons at the venue.

The opening session featured "Lecture 1: Positioning, significance and investment trends of investment in Africa for Japan" by Mr. Handa Shigeru, AAIC Investment Pte. Ltd, which conducts investment in Africa, and "Lecture２:Ethiopia Startups Potential for Reverse Innovation" by Ms. Sachiko Hara, JICA Startup Ecosystem Advisor. After those, a government official of Ministry of Innovation and Technology presented "Lecture 3: Attractiveness of Ethiopian Market from government's perspective ".

8 startups selected from 114 Ethiopian startups then took the stage, and the grand prize winners were chosen after a rigorous screening process by a panel of judges consisting of online participants and four Japanese and Ethiopian investors/ organizations. Special awards were also presented to startups from companies in the world; Sumitomo Corporation, Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia PLC, Kazana Group, DIVE INTO CODE Corp. and Amazon Web Services, Inc.

JICA will continue to support the formation of entrepreneurial ecosystems in developing countries.

Video:

• Video of the day's seminar (English) (YouTube, external link)
• Video of the day's seminar (Japanese) (YouTube, external link)

Materials of the day:

• "Lecture 1: Positioning, significance and investment trends of investment in Africa for Japan" (PDF/2.28MB)
• "Lecture２:Ethiopia Startups Potential for Reverse Innovation" (PDF/1.35MB)
• "Lecture 3: Attractiveness of Ethiopian Market from government's perspective" (PDF/716KB)
• Overall materials of 8 startups (Japanese and English) (PDF/1.21MB)

(*1) Project NINJA (Next Innovation with Japan) was launched in January 2020 as JICA's startup ecosystem building and entrepreneurship support activities to create business innovation in developing countries.

Event Details

- Event Title: Ethiopia Startup Innovation Pitch
- Co-organizers: Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Ethiopian Ministry of Innovation and Technology (MinT)
- Date & Time: Friday, December 9, 2022 11am-1pm (EAT), 5pm-7pm (JPT)
- Number of Pre-registered audience: 543
- Number of Participants: (Online) around 300,(At the venue) around 50

11:00	Opening remarks by JICA
11:10	Lecture on Startups in Africa and Ethiopia Lecture 1: Positioning, significance and investment trends of investment in Africa for Japan Lecture 2: Ethiopia Startups Potential for Reverse Innovation Lecture 3: Attractiveness of Ethiopian Market from government's perspective
11:25	Pitches by 8 Ethiopian startups and judging
12:35	Voting by audience and 4 judges to select the top 3 Announcement and awarding of special prizes from companies
12:55	Closing remarks by MinT

Startups

Mr. Tigabu Haile
CEO, Eshi Express

Eshi Express is a logistics business that aims to provide new value to small and medium enterprises (SMEs) through "motorcycles, bicycles, public transportation, and young human resources". The company aims to reduce logistics costs for SMEs and encourage their growth by providing flexible delivery times (same-day and next-day delivery) and hassle-free logistics services (consolidation and optimization), which have never been available in Ethiopia before. The company has already employed about 200 young people as carriers in Ethiopia, where unemployment is high, and has created many job opportunities.

Mr. Daniel Getachew
CEO, Guzo Technologies PLC

Founded an IT and media company specializing in XR services (see *2 below), IoT solutions and Web 3.0. He has also developed EpicGames, a game about Ethiopia's cultural heritage, and is developing businesses in the tourism and edtech (education) industries, not only in Ethiopia, but also in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Nigeria, and a wide range of other regions.

(*2) XR (cross reality) is a generic term for image processing technologies such as VR (virtual reality), AR (augmented reality), MR (mixed reality), and SR (alternate reality) that fuse the real and virtual worlds to create spaces that provide simulated experiences.

Ms. Betelhem Fikre
Leading Edge Trading PLC (Zafree Papers), COO

A clean tech company that uses agricultural waste to produce unbleached pulp, paper, and paper products without using any wood, developing environmentally friendly paper solutions. The goal is to provide a solution to deforestation and to change the paper industry in Ethiopia, where only low-quality and high-priced paper products are distributed due to a lack of foreign currency, funds, and raw materials.

Mr Leoul Mekonnen Tsehay
CEO, Infinity Technology PLC

Hulugram is a chat social platform similar to LINE that connects 30 million Internet users in Ethiopia. With a single application, users can not only communicate via chat, but also call cabs, shop, make payments, use digital wallets and other applications.

Mr. Tigabu Abriham Sumamo
CEO, Omishtu-Joy Agtech Engineering

Omitshu-Joy AgtechEnginnering was founded by engineering and agricultural professionals to provide digital services to Ethiopian farmers. The company provides consulting services to advise farmers on what crops are best suited for what type of soil, utilizing equipment that can test the soil to find the right crop and fertilizer.

Ms Mastewal Yohannes Agonafir
Product leader, Taskmoby

Using a mobile app and a dedicated call center (#8191), the company connects customers with home service providers such as repair technicians and childcare and housekeeping services. The project will contribute to job creation in Ethiopia by providing training opportunities to the many young men and women who are unemployed despite their skills.

Mr Abiye Tadeos
CEO, Anabi Agritech Solutions PLC

Produces and sells AI-powered smart apiaries that contribute to honey productivity. Aims to help solve the world's honey production challenges of under-pollination and forage.

Mr Amanuel Zegeye
Green Garo Solution PLC - Lersha

Develops a digital platform to improve farmers' productivity. Farmers will be able to purchase crops, access farm machinery services, weather advice, and more through a one-stop digital service. Expanded to 5 rural regions in Ethiopia, currently employing 642 people and serving 71,000 smallholder farmers.

Voting Results

First place: Leading Edge Trading PLC (Zafree Papers)

The following three companies were selected as a result of voting by online participants and four judges.

• First place: Leading Edge Trading PLC (Zafree Papers)
• Second place: Omishtu-Joy Agtech Engineering
• Third place: Guzo Technologies PLC

List of Special Award Providers

Special awards were presented to startups by the following five companies and organizations.

Company:
Sumitomo Corporation

Provided to:
All 8 companies

Special Award:
Investigation of Business Collaboration Opportunities

Company:
Safaricom Telecommunications Ethiopia PLC

Provided to:
All 8 companies

Special Award:
Pocket WiFi "MiFi M31", / Internet data pack (100GB) for 6 months and mentor service, Investigation of business collaboration opportunities

Company:
DIVE INTO CODE Inc.

Provided to:
All 8 companies

Special Award:
DIVER Learnings (external link) (basic plan for 6 months)

Company:
Amazon Web Services, Inc. Nigeria office (AWS)

Provided to:
3 agritech companies(*3)

Special Award:
AWS Credit $2000 (valid for 3 months), AWS Solution Architects will provide technical assistance for running workloads and solutions in the AWS cloud.

• Discussion of business collaboration opportunities

(*3) Green Agro Solution PLC - Lersha, Omishtu-Joy Agtech Engineering, Anabi Agritech Solutions PLC

Company:
Kanaza group

Provided to:
1st and 2nd place
Special Award:
Media release + social media content + mentorship

Provided to:
3rd place
Special Award:
Mentorship

Provided to:
All 8 companies
Special Award:
Free consultation with 251 Communications (external link)

Speakers

• Mr. Megerssa, Birhanu Abebe
  Director, Ministry of Innovation and Technology of Ethiopia
• Mr. Handa Shigeru
  Director, AAIC Investment Pte.
• Mr. Sachiko Hara
  JICA Expert, Startup Ecosystem Advisor

Judges

Mr. Handa Shigeru (AAIC Investment Pte. Ltd., Director)
Mr. Yannick Gayama (Double Feather Partners, Inc., Managing Director)
Ms. Hilina Zenebe (Kazana Fund, Managing Partner)
Mr. Berhanu Beyene, (Ethiopian Cybersecurity Association (ECA) , Representative)

At the venue

Online screens