Talktu clinches top prize at Pitch2Win 2025

Pitch2Win 2025 came to a thrilling close in Lagos with Talktu, a personalized speech therapy platform, winning the grand prize of $10,000 in equity-free funding. The platform was developed by a dynamic team comprising Sarah Andino, Dr.Ibraheem Salako, Victoria Aigbekean, and Kuro Souza, and emerged victorious from a highly competitive pool of innovative startups from across the continent.

Talktu stood out for its mission to make speech therapy accessible to children through tech-enabled, parent-led support. The platform offers daily, customized activities designed around each child’s specific speech challenges. Parents and caregivers can access these resources from any device, creating a cost-effective and consistent path to progress from the comfort of home.

“Our vision is to ensure that every child, regardless of location or financial capacity, gets the support they need to communicate confidently,” said Victoria Aigbekean, one of the co-founders, after the win. “Winning Pitch2Win is a validation of that mission and a push forward.”

Also commanding attention during the event was Adanma Ugwu, who pitched Hiprep, an AI-powered learning companion tailored to help children master core subjects at their own pace. Designed to address systemic educational issues such as overcrowded classrooms and limited teacher support, Hiprep delivers personalized, skill-based learning in a fun and interactive way.

Though Hiprep didn’t take the top prize, it won big in other categories. Ugwu was awarded the $3,000 International Viewers’ Selection Prize, voted by a global onsite audience, and also received the $1,000 Audience Choice Award, reflecting the enthusiasm and support from attendees at the live event.

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Pitch2Win 2025 reaffirmed its reputation as one of Africa’s leading startup competitions, spotlighting ventures that blend innovation, scalability, and purpose. This year’s edition brought together global investors from Japan, ecosystem players, and founders under one roof to unlock real opportunities for growth and funding.

“Pitch2Win is not just about winning a cheque,” said Oo Nwonye, founder of Techcircle. “It’s about building bridges between promising founders and the people who can help scale their impact. Talktu and Hiprep are both outstanding examples of what’s possible when tech meets real-world challenges.”

Additionally, Akio Tanaka, Co-founder and Partner of Headline (IVS), expressed delight about Nigeria’s pool of tech talent, noting that the country and continent will benefit immensely from such passionate and talented innovators. He also commended Techcircle for their commitment to the tech ecosystem and encouraged them to keep supporting and promoting Nigeria’s top tech talents.

Other speakers at the event include Ridwan Olalere, CEO of Lemonade Finance, Iyin Aboyeji, Founding partner, Future Africa, and Dr Ola Brown, founder of Healthcap Africa.

Sponsors of Pitch2Win5 included
Qucoon, Datamellon, Busha, Miden, Seamfix, Voltron Capital, CloudPlexo, MTN, Cascador, Raenest, Korapay, Cleva, Paystack, Agora, Workstation, Ubulu Africa, TLP Advisory, 21st Century Evolution.

Watch the full event here
bit.ly/PITCH2WIN5-LIVESTREAM

About Techcircle
Techcircle provides strategic support, program design, and advisory services to African startups, corporations, and government bodies. Its work connects key stakeholders across global markets with the African innovation ecosystem through high-impact events and ecosystem programs. Partners have included Meta, Microsoft, Google, UK-Nigeria Tech Hub, ARM Labs, and others.

About SgGrow
SGGrow is a Singapore-based accelerator and investment firm supporting high-growth startups globally through funding and expert-led acceleration programs.

About FreakOut Holdings
Founded by Yuzuru Honda, FreakOut Holdings operates Asia’s largest real-time bidding DSP and supports marketing technology across 10 international markets.