Hardware and Internet of Things (IoT) startup NIoTEK has been named winner of the COVID-19-focused “We’ve Got Your Back” challenge run by Egytian investor group Cairo Angels.
Cairo Angels, Egypt’s first formal network of angel investors, invests in and supports startups and early stage, high growth businesses across the Middle East and Africa.
Disrupt Africa reported yesterday Cairo Angels had launched the “We’ve Got Your Back” initiative in response to the global COVID-19 pandemic, aimed at supporting solutions that can help elderly or vulnerable people living alone complete their shopping and errands and therefore lower their risk of infection from the novel coronavirus.
Four finalists were selected for the challenge, pitching virtually yesterday to secure EGP100,000 (US$6,000) in cash funding to develop a secure and updated database for volunteers, whose identity can be verified through social media accounts and ID cards, with the inclusion of reviews.
The winner was NIoTEK, a platform that combines hardware and software and applies them in Internet of Things (IoT), which aside from the cash will also receive mentorship from Cairo Angels and other kinds of support offered by partners Mayday and Microsoft.
The other three finalist startups were Kofoof, a software company that specialises in business software development; Markazzy, which helps homeowners find, choose and use home improvement products with ease and convenience; and Tactful AI, an AI-powered and data-centric customer engagement technology.
