Five Namibian Founders Pitch Business Ideas at Basecamp’s Nexus Speed Pitch

Basecamp Business Incubator has brought five Namibian founders to the Nexus Speed Pitch in Windhoek, giving early-stage businesses a platform to present their ideas, test their propositions and connect with Namibia’s startup community.

The founders reached the pitch stage after spending several weeks testing and refining their ideas through Basecamp’s Founders Nexus Hunt. The latest Nexus Speed Pitch took place on Wednesday, September 16, at Vinyls Music Café on Independence Avenue in Windhoek.

Nexus Speed Pitch is a quarterly event focused on founders who are still developing their businesses or are at the ideation stage. Participants have a limited amount of time to explain what they are building, the problem they are addressing and the value of their business idea.

Five founders take their ideas to the stage

The September edition features five founders and five business ideas, with each participant given only a few minutes to make their case to a live audience. Previous editions have used a three-minute pitch format, followed by audience voting to select a winner.

The format gives founders an opportunity to test their ideas outside their usual networks while receiving direct feedback from other entrepreneurs, potential supporters and members of the wider business community.

Previous Nexus Speed Pitch participants have presented ideas in areas including fintech, agritech, education technology, cybersecurity and community services. The event is designed to help founders sharpen their ideas while building exposure around their businesses.

From pitching to business support

Nexus Speed Pitch forms part of Basecamp’s wider founder-support activities. Previous winners have received a N$5,000 prize and a place in the Basecamp Hunt programme, which provides additional support as founders work on developing their businesses.

Earlier winners have included Lunkir, a fintech platform founded by David Iileka, as well as CityAlerts, a mobile safety platform, and NXAlingo, a local-language learning application. These businesses illustrate the range of ideas that have moved through the programme.

Basecamp Business Incubator, which was founded in 2022 and is based in Windhoek, also runs other programmes aimed at strengthening Namibian businesses. In August, it launched Metropolitan Founders Ignite with Metropolitan Namibia, with the programme offering business development support, mentorship, networks and N$150,000 in catalytic funding for selected founders.

The latest Nexus Speed Pitch adds another group of early-stage founders to Namibia’s startup pipeline, giving them a public platform to develop their ideas, build connections and take the next step in building their businesses.