Three Nigerian startups have walked away with US$30,000 each upon completing the four-month Itanna accelerator programme.
Launched last year by Nigerian corporate Honeywell Group, the Itanna programme aims to provide startups with the expertise, connections, institutional knowledge and capital necessary to help them grow.
Four startups took part in its inaugural fintech-focused programme last year, while the focus was widened to other sectors for the second edition. That programme concluded with a demo day last week, which saw the three participating companies present their businesses to investors, Honeywell Group executives and other industry leaders.
The selected startups, each of which has taken on board US$30,000 in funding from Itanna, were e-health company Gerocare, AI-based ed-tech solution Simbi Interactive, and prop-tech startup E-Estates.
Aside from the funding, the three companies also received training and mentorship from leading industry experts in the form of legal and HR workshops, classes on technology, business and marketing, reviews of pricing models and operational metrics, mentorship sessions and guest lectures from some of Nigeria’s most renowned entrepreneurs.
“We are very thrilled with the calibre of entrepreneurs the Nigerian tech ecosystem has to offer. At Itanna, we worked with each company on an individual basis to stress-test their value propositions and their core business models so they can emerge from our programme as stronger companies. We believe in each of these companies and are extremely excited to see what these companies are now capable of achieving,” said Tony Idugboe, head of investment at Itanna.
