RecyclePoints crowned Nigeria’s winner of Chivas Regal Scotch Whisky’s $1m social enterprise competition

• Yesterday saw the exciting conclusion to the finals in Lagos.

RecyclePoints, an incentive based recycling scheme that deploys the use of electric cargo tricycles, the first of its kind in Nigeria, has been announced as the Nigeria winner of The Venture, Chivas Regal Scotch Whisky’s global competition to find and support the most exciting social enterprises.

Yesterday saw the exciting conclusion to the finals in Lagos, where Chioma Ukonu, co-founder of RecyclePoints, scooped the N1 million prize money and bespoke business mentoring.

 

RecyclePoints will represent Nigeria in the Global Final in Los Angeles in July 2017, where she will compete with social entrepreneurs from 31 countries across six continents for a share of the $1 million in funding to take their business to the next level.

The Nigeria final, held at the prestigious InterContinental Hotel, saw the three shortlisted finalists pitch to a team of industry leaders which included: Audu Maikori (President of Choc City Group), Shola Ladoja (Founder, Simply Green Juice), Peace Hyde (award winning journalist and West Africa correspondent, Forbes), Nneka Okekaru (Deputy Director, Enterprise Development Centre), and Olivier Fages (Managing Director, Pernod Ricard Nigeria).

RecyclePoints impressed the judging panel with its potential scalability and a solid financial inclusion model.

Accepting the award, Chioma Ukonu, founder of RecyclePoints, admitted: ‘My partner and I are absolutely delighted to have been chosen as Nigeria’s winners. For us, this initiative offers the incredible opportunity to receive world-class business mentoring and global publicity, which could help us reach one million homes by 2017 and establish our business in an additional five states within the Federation.’

Audu Maikori, part of the panel who picked the winner said, ‘RecylePoints’ business model was really impressive. They have already witnessed an increase of 70% with the introduction of the electric cargo tricycles and their plan to introduce the iRecycle kiosk in the coming year, which will create further jobs for the youth and women around the continent is unique. With The Venture’s support and global platform, the next year for RecyclePoints could be quite incredible.’

The Venture was open to any for-profit start-up that creates both financial value and a positive impact on the lives of others.

The other two businesses that went head-to-head against Recycle Points in the Nigeria final were: Eco Future, a recycling scheme that utilises a smart sensor waste bin, geomap and SMS technology for the collection of recyclable waste, and MOBIcure, a social enterprise start-up creating solutions that uses mobile technology to solve some of the most pressing health issues plaguing developing countries.

Follow the journey at www.theventure.com or join the conversation on Twitter @ChivasRegalNG #ChivasVenture