Twenty Nigerian startups across a variety of sectors have been selected to take part in the Lagos-based 2017 She Leads Africa Accelerator, at the end of which they will compete for NGN2 million (US$5,600) in funding.
She Leads Africa has partnered with the Work in Progress! Alliance, OCP, Guaranty Trust Bank (GTB), Cointreau and Intel to create a three-month accelerator programme, designed to identify, support and fund the next generation of Nigeria’s brightest entrepreneurs.
More than 200 startups from across Nigeria applied for the programme, with that list now having been narrowed down to the selected 20. The selected entrepreneurs were evaluated based on their existing traction, management team, and vision to scale across Africa.
Accelerator participants will spend the next three months working on their business strategy and growth, while networking with investors and potential partners, before pitching their businesses at an investor Demo Day in November for the chance to secure the NGN2 million investment from She Leads Africa.
In the Intel Technology Cohort, the selected businesses are online event planning platform Eventplanner, software development agency Dexterity Logics, on-demand services platform UrbanErrands, e-health startup Greymate Care, and online communications company KJK.
Manufacturing startup Taeillo, jobs platform Auditions.ng, fashion label Redbutton, jewellery company MMG, and clothing brand Netima have been picked in Cointreau Creatives Cohort, while food delivery startup Food-i-Like, baby food companies Mahauty and Smile-On, furniture company Perception Consult, and business community CEA make up the GTB Retail & E-Commerce Cohort.
In the OCP Agribusiness Cohort, the selected businesses are agriculture startups Dahrah, Meenam Blends, Farm for Gold Venture, Apples & Berries, and Showplace Nigeria.
