It was October 16, 2025, at exactly 1:30 p.m. WAT when three small and medium enterprises took the Creative Economy Stage at Moonshot by TechCabal. The hall was filled to capacity as founders, investors, and journalists gathered to watch a different kind of showcase. TechCabal gave emerging businesses the spotlight to share how they’re shaping Africa’s next growth story.
The session featured three companies tackling different parts of the continent’s economic puzzle: Heirs and Heralds Agro Allied Limited, Iverify, and Bridge Merchant Enterprise.
Why It Matters
Moonshot has always been known for big-name panels and venture-backed startups, but this showcase shifted the focus. These SMEs are the engine rooms of local innovation, using tech to solve tangible, everyday problems like food security, hiring fraud, and post-harvest losses.
Who’s Building
Heirs and Heralds Agro Allied Limited, represented by Olaoluwa Bamiloye, is working to redefine agriculture through innovative feed solutions and sustainable practices. The company produces high-quality livestock feed and supplies premium feed ingredients to farmers. Their mission, “safe feed leads to safe food,” reflects a commitment to food safety, sustainability, and capacity development for Nigeria’s next generation of agripreneurs.
Iverify, represented by Tajudeen, its Chief Operating Officer, is addressing a growing workplace challenge: employment fraud. The platform helps companies verify employee credentials before hiring, cutting down on fake documentation and identity fraud. It’s part of a broader movement toward digital trust systems for businesses across Africa.
Bridge Merchant Enterprise, led by Chiwendu Nweke, closed the session with a story that connects directly to Africa’s food security challenge. The company tackles post-harvest losses by linking smallholder farmers to markets, finance, and climate-smart solutions through its digital platform, Aladinn. Bridge Merchant has onboarded more than 10,000 farmers and created over 1,300 rural jobs, including 605 for women. By helping farmers store, process, and sell produce more efficiently, it’s building a supply chain where less food goes to waste and more income stays in rural communities.
What’s Next
This SME showcase wasn’t filler between headline acts. It was proof that Africa’s creative economy is maturing, growing from flashy apps to practical solutions that touch everyday lives.
TechCabal’s decision to share its stage with grassroots innovators highlights a new kind of moonshot. A kind where founders who may not have global valuations yet, are shaping Africa’s economic future from the ground up.
