Tea bar earns opara N1m investment fund

As part of efforts towards encouraging small business owners especially youths, Legalpreneur Services has concluded the 2019 edition of its Drive ‘Start-Up’ Summit with the winner taking home N1 million investment prize money.

A tea bar owner, Miss Precious Opara and her partner, Miss Esther Izuka, who won the prize, own a recreational tea brand, DrinkUp, based in Owerri, Imo State. They pitched their product as a recreational with health benefits for old and young users.

Entries were received from start-ups in different Nigerian states, but five made it through the pre-project screening process and were recently invited to Uyo, Akwa Ibom State for the summit. After two days of mentorship and a stormy pitching contest on the third day of the summit, Opara won the N1,000,000 investment prize.

The Drive Summit project is designed to be a yearly business support summit for start-ups and small businesses, where entrepreneurs are invited to contest for an investment amount, participate in open training sessions as well as closed mentorship meetings and exhibit their goods and services. The 2019 edition, which was the first, welcomed applications from four industries — fashion, ICT, agriculture and light manufacturing.

According to the convener, Legalpreneur Services, Uduak E. Umoh, her vision for the Drive Summit was born out of her observation of the need for strategic partnership in building business ecosystems for small businesses in Nigeria, especially in the Niger Delta region.

“I thought it was best to create this hub where start-ups can find legal counsel, creative services, exchange ideas, become investible and find cash investment. We have ways of drawing in investment for them although we are open to partner with more investors. This is the whole essence of Legalpreneur Services and its Drive Summit project,” she said.

Legalpreneur Services partnered with Start Innovation Hub, a tech incubation company and Jabborro PR, a marketing communications firm to put together the 2019 edition. The trio was supported by Union Bank, Global Audio Factory, Wonder Arts, Continuity Media, Whitebridge Recruiting and Anifera Couture.