By Adedapo Adesanya
The co-founder and CEO of Drugstoc, Mr Chibuzo Opara, has been crowned winner of the Central and Eastern Europe, Middle East, and Africa (CEMEA) edition of the Visa Everywhere Initiative (VEI), a global open innovation program and competition for start-ups and fintech companies.
The helmsman of the startup that leverages technology, supply chain management, financial solutions, and product knowledge to enhance access to healthcare in emerging markets will take home the $20,000 prize.
Mr Opara will now compete against the other regional champions from North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia-Pacific at the VEI Global Finals, which will take place on September 19th at TechCrunch’s Disrupt conference in San Francisco.
Speaking on the award, Mr Otto Williams, Senior Vice President and Head of Product, Partnership and Digital Solutions at Visa CEMEA, said, “Fintechs and payments innovators are shaping the future of how we make payments as consumers and as businesses.
“We are proud to offer them a platform to showcase their impactful solutions that can uplift the world of payments and commerce. We’ve seen some impressive projects at this year’s competition – congratulations to Chibuzo Opara for winning and to all our participants. We wish Drugstoc the best of luck for the VEI Global Finals.”
In addition to an equity-free cash prize for winning, Mr Opara will be able to showcase their solution on a global stage with TechCrunch, one of the world’s most influential start-up technology platforms, gaining valuable exposure to key fintech stakeholders across the banking, merchant, VC and government sectors.
Speaking on winning the CEMEA competition, the CEO of Drugstoc said: “The competition has been a great platform to showcase our capabilities, learn, grow, and fuel our aspirations. It’s an overwhelming journey that doesn’t stop here, it only propels us to strive for more, and we look forward to the global finals in San Francisco.
“I am proud of the Drugstoc team who keep pushing to make the dream of distributing and enhancing the availability of medical supplies and services a reality. We see the opportunity to collaborate with Visa through its technology, to service the Drugstoc supply chain and bring efficiency to Sub-Saharan Africa.”
This 2023 edition of VEI introduced a new Risk prize, with an expanded remit that includes start-ups offering finance value-adds for merchants and consumers.
The Risk category was awarded to Mr Giorgio Patrini of Sensity with a prize of $25,000. The Fintechs Innovating in Risk Excellence (FIIRE) award was supported by UAE-based bank Emirates NBD Group and was open to CEMEA-based fintech whose product includes a security or risk element that can revolutionize the payments landscape.
Beyond a cash prize, the FIIRE winner also has an opportunity to work with Emirates NBD Group, one of the Middle East’s largest banking groups in terms of assets.
Also honoured at the VEI CEMEA Regional Finals was Mr Nelson Aseka of AIfluence, who took home the Audience Favorite award of $10,000.
Since its launch in 2015, VEI has helped start-ups from more than 100 countries collectively raise more than $16 billion in funding, with a growing network of nearly 12,000 start-ups.
