To further our vision of accelerating 5000 African-founded startups by 2030, by investing in founders of African descent building high-potential, high-impact startups anywhere in the world, Innovest Afrika is excited to announce the Innovest Ignite Lagos Edition Accelerator Program.

Innovest Ignite Lagos Edition is an 6-week fully remote accelerator program for early-stage startups in Nigeria with high potential to scale quickly. The program is industry and business-model agnostic, all startups located in Nigeria across all states are welcome to apply.
Innovest Ignite Lagos Edition will have a cohort size of 10-12 startups and will conclude with a live demo-day event that will be held in Lagos.
The program is designed to provide support, resources, mentorship and funding to Nigerian founders, with the aim of empowering them and helping them overcome market challenges and to seize opportunities within the global economic landscape.

Our partners include mentors; industry experts, exited founders and global investors who are passionate about Africans and are committed to adding value to accepted founders in this cohort.

This is a special opportunity to join the Innovest Ignite Lagos edition edition.

Eligibility Criteria

You are an early stage founder building high impact and high potential startups that meets the following criteria:

• Resident in and building for Nigeria as your primary market. All founders across all 36 states and FCT are eligible to apply.
• Not a solo founder, you have a co-founder and/or a team working with you.
• Building a startup across any industry vertical and with any business model. This accelerator is sector-agnostic.
• An early-stage startup with either an MVP, product market fit, or some traction. You will be prioritized if you possess all.

We value founders who are teachable, value feedback, and understand collaboration as a process of growing your startup to the next level. If that sounds like you, we may be a perfect match.

Program Details

• Applications closes on Wednesday, February 14, 2024, at midnight (GMT+1).
• The accelerator program will be 100% virtual and starts a week after the close of registration.
• Application is reviewed on a rolling basis, early submission is advised.

Innovest Ignite accelerator will consist of facilitator-led sessions, mentoring sessions, professional workshops, investor preps, and panel discussions. At the conclusion of the program, founders will pitch to investors at a live Demo-Day event that will be held in Lagos, Nigeria.

Other benefits of participating in the program include

• Become a part of a global network of other founders, mentors and investors.
• The top quartile of the cohort will receive seed funding of up to $20,000 for 2% equity
• One-on-one mentorship sessions with industry experts and successful startup founders.
• Subsidies offered by our strategic partners (legal, financial, and technology).
• After program support in the form of intros to investors, business development support, and hiring support.