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Nigerian entrepreneur and investor Iyinoluwa Aboyeji spent a day mentoring children aged seven to 18 at the Teesas Summer School, listening to their business ideas, challenging their thinking, and sharing practical tips to help them hone their ideas ahead of the school’s Startup Spark 2.0 pitch competition.
Most of the children appeared to have caught the technology bug, with nearly all teams incorporating artificial intelligence and mobile apps into their business ideas, which featured automotive technology, EdTech, HealthTech and FashionTech, among others.
11-year-old Ugobuze Kaitochukwu proved to be a true technology lover, demonstrating tech skills that impressed Aboyeji during his interaction with Kaitochukwu’s team. The team of dreamers were developing an EdTech app designed for underserved communities that works with and without internet connectivity.
“In areas where children have little to no access to education, our service will bridge that gap digitally. Once you get on the app, you have a personalised AI that generates courses for you in real time so you can learn at your own pace, and it runs locally so no internet connection is required,” Kaitochukwu said.
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Another standout presentation was delivered by 10-year-old Aloba Oluwatoni Joel, whose team is working on a self-driving, solar-powered car with adaptive technology and smart sensors.
“It’s an interesting idea, but I am curious to see what you will present on demo day,” Aboyeji said.
16-year-old Destiny Agbodu explained that her team was working on a plan for a 24-hour cafe with a drive-through. The catch wasn’t the menu, but the futuristic welcome system and ordering process. Robots would welcome diners, and orders would be placed via big screens, freeing up time for humans to cook and serve guests.
After receiving feedback, the various teams will refine their ideas and submit video pitches from which the judges will select three teams to go head-to-head against the top three teams from the second cohort at the Startup Spark 2.0 pitch competition scheduled for August.
Founder and CEO of Teesas Education, Osayi Izedonmwen, said, “Our vision for Teesas Startup Spark is to nurture children who don’t dream, but build. The creativity demonstrated here today proves that we are on the right path.”
The mentorship session is part of Teesas Education’s commitment to exposing young learners to accomplished entrepreneurs who can inspire them to transform ideas into viable businesses. The Teesas Summer School has earned recognition for Startup Spark, its signature entrepreneurial programme that culminates in a business pitch competition.
Earlier in July, Teesas Education announced that Aboyeji, alongside the company’s founder and CEO, Osayi Izedonmwen, and the founder of Standard Bearers School, Modupe Adeyinka-Oni, would serve as judges for the Startup Spark competition, which will take place after the second cohort of the summer school.
With the first cohort ending on August 7, registrations are ongoing for the second cohort, which starts on August 10. Parents can sign up their children and wards using this link: https://teesas.com/summerschool
