Hey entrepreneurs, what would your startup do with $20 000? [Update]

I think almost everyone in Nigeria has a tech startup or they are at least considering tech as a career path. If there is a problem and it has a tech fix, someone in Nigeria is working on it.

With a growing and buzzing ecosystem there are many entrepreneurs and startups in the space rising to solve the problems of today and tomorrow. With an estimated population of just over 170-million and an internet audience of more than 55-million, its 33% internet penetration means 67% of opportunity.

In the midst of all that opportunity lies a great many challenges. The biggest of all is funding. So Nigerian tech blog, TechCabal, wants to tackle that a bit.

“[Nigerian] startups are changing the way we live for the better. But we have a long way to go. Funding is still scarce, our best minds don’t automatically think of tech startups when they look for employment or business opportunities and internet penetration is still in its infancy,” says the blog.

Baring all that in mind, TechCabal in partnership with Social Media Week and Stanbic IBTC (and others) are helping a startup get on their way with some seed money.

“We’re looking for the Next Big Startups – the ones who’ll make the Top 10 lists and inspire the community to more acts of bravery,” says the blog.

How is it doing this? A competition of course.

The competition, which is now open for entries, has been dubbed TechCabal Battlefield and there is US$10 000 to be won.

The rules are quite simple. Your startup:

• Must not be older than 2 years
• Must have less than US$200 000 in funding or no funding
• Must have a substantial tech component which is live at the time of competition i.e. corporate website does not count {startups in beta will be allowed in special circumstances if there is a reasonable expectation that they will launch in less than 3 months from the competition}
• Must serve Nigerian customers/be based in Nigeria

The way the guys at TechCabal see it, Nigeria is a melting pot of great ideas. It is, after all, the home of Konga, iROKOTV, and mobile money solutions like Paga.

Comp details here.

Update: The potential winnings just got even more enticing — Stanbic IBTC’s initial pledge of US$12 000 to the winner and first runner up has been augmented with a US$10 000 contribution from the megastars at iROKING. Instead of US$10 000, the winner of the competition will now go home with a record US$20 000 — which TechCabal claims is the biggest startup prize to ever be up for grabs in Nigeria.