Why UNIBEN medical students gain spotlight for FG’s N50m venture grant

Four final-year medical students from the University of Benin have emerged as finalists in the federal government’s N50 million Student Venture Capital Grant (SVCG), placing them among Nigeria’s most promising young innovators.

Their selection tells a deeper story about where healthcare innovation and student entrepreneurship in Nigeria are headed.

The Student Venture Capital Grant (SVCG) is a federal initiative launched in November 2025 in partnership with the Bank of Industry, which offers up to N50 million in non-dilutive funding (meaning founders don’t give up equity).

Targets student-led startups already at the commercialisation stage, and it aims to build job creators, not just job seekers

Out of 30,639 applicants across 404 institutions, only 65 finalists were selected, thereby making this an extremely competitive process.

Who Are the UNIBEN Students?

The shortlisted team consists of Francis Nwabueze (team lead); Ayebamiebi Yousuo; Osahon Onariase, and Daniel Itegboje.

All are sixth-year medical students, which implies they are balancing rigorous clinical training with building a startup.

What did they build? UpCare

Their innovation is UpCare, which is a digital health platform designed to give patients control over their medical data.

The core idea is a patient-owned, decentralised digital health diary which creates a secure digital health identity for each user, stores medical history across multiple hospitals, allows instant access to records, especially in emergencies, and enables continuity of care when patients switch providers.

UpCare aims to solve a major Nigerian healthcare problem, which is fragmented patient records and slow access to medical history.

Why does this matter

Nigeria’s healthcare system still struggles with paper-based records and poor interoperability, and UpCare represents a shift toward a digital-first, patient-centric healthcare infrastructure.

It is not just a student project but a commercial-stage startup, showing that Universities are becoming innovation hubs and students are building real businesses.

Government are betting on youth innovation as the SVCG signals a policy shift from grants for research to funding startups, from employment programs to venture creation. If successful, UpCare could join a growing wave of Nigerian startups solving local problems with scalable technology and prove that the next big founders may already be sitting in lecture halls.