Addobea Schmidt won first prize of EUR 30,000 for her Addobea ready-made sauce for jollof rice. The one-woman company now hopes to launch more African foods on shelves in German supermarkets. (Another food start-up, the Konzoom, a delivery service in the greater Accra region in Ghana, made initial contacts during the contest. The company delivers within an hour and is 20 per cent cheaper than its rivals.) Adon Health came second and won EUR 15,000. Its product counters testosterone deficiency in men over 45 years. Customers can request a lab   test and medication by post. The company had previously raised EUR 700,000 in a financing round. Third prize went to the Zula start-up, which aims to empower young people, and won EUR 5,000 with its digital books featuring children of all skin colours. Meanwhile, the Serverless Salad start-up, which offers cloud-based technology and AI-supported software modules, also forged contacts in Hamburg.

The contestants also included three start-ups that have yet to launch officially or are in the early stages. Among them is the Stay & Pay app, which won EUR 2,000 in prize money. The app speeds up the payment of restaurant bills. The Funding Crew, which is already up and running and uses (AI) to link up start-ups with investors and funding schemes, won EUR 1,000. Blue Housing International, on the other hand, focuses on building materials made from recycled plastic. The start-up is focusing initially on building garden sheds and houses later. To this end, it is forging long-term collaborations with DIY stores.
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