Winning Wednesday with Keturah
On this week’s Winning Wednesday Edition, we caught up with our entrepreneur, Keturah Ovio- Onoweya, a software engineer and CEO of Qeturah.com.
She’s just won the first place in the British Council Enterprise Challenge which entails a N2million financial grant, a fully-funded scholarships to attend a five-day entrepreneurship foundation course at the Branson Centre for Entrepreneurship in South Africa plus a mentoring session in London with world renowned entrepreneur and Founder and Chairman of Virgin Group, Sir Richard Branson.
TEF: How did you hear about the Challenge?
Keturah Ovio- Onoweya: I had seen an advertisement on TechPoint and I didn’t act on it until a friend of mine forwarded me the direct link saying it expires in 2 days. So I quickly got my PC and wrote out the essay as required in Stage 1 of the application.
TEF: What has your experience been with the competition?
KO: My experience was nothing short of brilliant! From the engaging bootcamp with 19 other inspiring young entrepreneurs, to the Entrepreneurial Africa London Showcase that took place almost immediately after my win, to the pitch, mentoring, and networking session that followed. And this is not all of it.
TEF: Did the Tony Elumelu Foundation have any role to play with your involvement?
KO: Certainly! The Foundation helped a lot in the sense that the 12 weeks online training and mentoring session and seed funding got me ready for this big win. The Foundation provided me with a mentor to guide my early days, the opportunity to conduct a market research, get the right people, push out my MVP in order to get my proof of concept.
In her words, “One block today, one block tomorrow. Eventually, we’d have a firmly built wall.” This is evident in my case. I don’t think my wall is firmly built, but I can assure you that I’m on the path to seeing this great wall.
