Up to 10 seed-stage startups in Nigeria will have a chance to compete in representing the country at the Global Seedstars Summit in Switzerland, where the winner stands to win up to $500,000 in equity investments and other prizes.
This pitch session will be part of an event marking the opening day of Seedspace GrowthLab, a new facility that is expected to be an exclusive growth hub for entrepreneurs and executives in Africa to access a global network.
Seedstars, a leading emerging market startup community and investor has partnered with GrowthLab, formerly known as Starta, a membership platform for educating entrepreneurs in Africa on how to build high growth business, to launch Seedspace GrowthLab on November 8, 2019. The new hub, located on the second floor of the Business Center in Circle Mall, becomes the second Seedspace location in Lagos.
It was noted in a statement, that being part of the largest network of campuses for entrepreneurs in emerging markets, Seedspace GrowthLab is one of the 16 hubs by Seedstars in more than 10 cities around the world including: Abidjan, Cairo, Cape Town, Casablanca, Dar es Salaam, Geneva, Lima, Mexico City, Nur-Sultan, and Yangon.
Alessia Balducci, general manager of Seedstars Nigeria, said in the statement, “Seedstars is here to stay, and this new hub in partnership with Growthlab is a testament to our willingness to continue our work to support and invest to build the next success stories.” This she said, to stress the company’s long-term commitments to Nigeria, building on the Ikoyi hub, which was the first Seedspace ever opened in its network.
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The launch day will be an opportunity to host Seedstars World Lagos event for the 7th time in the city. The Seedstars dynamic pitch event will be held in the premises from 4:00PM.
Furthermore, Seedstars joined forces with ABAN through LAN to connect with local business angels and organize the Investor Forum, which will also be part of the event and as part of efforts to nurture the local Lagos ecosystem. The 4-hour morning session will be a unique opportunity for investors to network, gain key insights and knowledge and access deal flow during closed-door pitches and 1:1 speed dating with selected startups.
The companies invited to the training session and to pitch at the Seedstars Lagos event must have raised less than $500k in funding and built a minimum viable product, ideally with existing traction. The Seedstars team is searching for one additional criterion: potential for regional and global scalability.
The winner will get a chance to represent Nigeria in Johannesburg, South Africa during the Seedstars Summit Africa (December 5-7, 2019), and join an all-inclusive trip to Switzerland, to compete at the Seedstars Summit for the title of Seedstars Global Winner and up to $500,000 in equity investments and other prizes.
“We are committed to supporting entrepreneurs who are building high growth businesses in Africa with the relevant content, community and connection to capital that will help them succeed,” said Dotun Olowoporoku, co-founder and non-executive director at GrowthLab.
Startups are invited to apply for the Seedstars World Lagos competition at seedstarsworld.com.
The application is open until 28th October, 2019. After careful screening, the Seedstars team will shortlist around ten of the best seed-stage startups to participate in the bootcamp and pitching event on 8th of November, 2019.
Those interested in participating as attendees can register at eventbrite.com/e/seedstars-lagos-2019.
