Africa-Press – Gambia. ScaleUp Gambia, a growth-stage support initiative officially introduced its mission to close the scale gap for startups in The Gambia through an engaging panel and pitch competition held at the Alliance Française Saturday.
The programme to be fully launched in January 2026 aims to guide startups and promising ventures beyond survival—through tailored mentorship, capital readiness, access to networks, and a high-level curriculum focused on sustainable scaling. It is not here to replace existing efforts but to build on them, working with stakeholders including government, donors, corporates, accelerators, and incubators to strengthen alumni pipelines and offer the next step in the founder journey.
This first event organised in partnership with Gambia Tech, was more than a launch—it was a listening session, a call to action, uniting key stakeholders, ecosystem players, and ambitious founders in a critical conversation on the theme “Why don’t Gambian startups scale—and what can be done about it.” Experts panelists, Mustapha Njie of TAF Africa Global, Jorjoh Ndure of Insist Global, Hassan Jallow of Waychit, Ismaila Jallow of EcoMed and Boubacar Coly of Gambia Tech respectively, emphasised the importance of building strong systems, cultivating patience and resilience, leveraging technology, learning French to tap Francophone markets, and aligning private sector and government support. The speakers also reflected on the importance of digital skills, fintech tools, and adaptability to market conditions as critical elements in the innovation journey. The panel also tackled barriers such as lack of access to capital, limited operational systems, and low collaboration which impedes start-ups to expand and grow their ventures. Officials from the Ministry of Gender, Children and Social Welfare and key ecosystem players including GAIN and Startup Incubator Gambia also graced the event.
A pitch competition was held to support and highlight entrepreneurs in the ecosystem. Five founders pitched their ventures in a competition judged on scalability, traction, market size, team strength, and uniqueness. Over D90,000 in prize money was awarded alongside mentorship and visibility support. First Prize of D50,000 was won by Ida Mendy, a UTG student and founder of Mendez Company Ltd which produces affordable, high-quality detergents using a mix of traditional African techniques and modern methods, Abdoulie Conteh a software engineer, social innovator and founder of Lakkal Matrix Solutions won the 2nd prize of D25,000. Lakkal, is an EdTech initiative designed to preserve and promote African languages through interactive, gamified learning tools for young learners and diaspora communities. Emmanuel Agunpopo, a student of American International University and founder of Tikketx, a digital ticketing company offering services in Sub-saharan Africa won the 3rd prize with a cash of D15,000.
All participants will receive mentorship from Jainaba Njie through her strategy firm, Elev8te Consulting. The 1st and 2nd prize winners also receive private strategy sessions to refine their models. Founders from the pitch competition will be encouraged to apply to the full programme once it launches, especially those at the growth stage. The event was supported and funded by Gambia Tech Project, KMF Technologies, Soni Transfer, Outboost Express, Alliance Française and The Builders Collective, a values-driven association of professionals, entrepreneurs, and changemakers who raised D50,000 for the first prize. Builders focuses on innovation, professional excellence, and building scalable enterprises that contribute meaningfully to national growth.
ScaleUp Gambia will continue hosting monthly Founder Dinner Roundtables and Startup Seminars to spark conversation and gather insights to build a founder-first, data-driven scale-up programme.
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