Ten persons have been selected by the She Leads Africa (SLA) for the 2016 SLA Accelerator Programme which commenced on July 11 in Lagos.
About 120 applications were received from across Nigeria, but only 10 start-ups’ ideas caught the attention of the organisers based on their traction and progress in the market, management team and vision to grow and scale across Africa.
Selected businesses included Fresh Direct Produce and Agro-Allied Services, an eco-friendly social enterprise that produces premium organic produce through hydroponics and community action; DeliveryBros, which helps save time and stress through pickup and drops from the market to your house or office.
VivaSante, which solves the medical industry’s procurement problem, by providing a technology enabled distribution solution resulting in transparency and simplicity and Koko’s Kitchen, an indigenous brand of confectionary dry mixes specially tailored to suit the taste buds and pocketbook of the quintessential person on the go where also on the list of selected businesses.
Also picked were Bubble Tii, Shuttlers, Keek’s, Native Bukka, BathKandy Co and Independent Personal Assistant (iPA).
Accelerator participants will spend the next three months working on their business strategy and growth, while networking with investors and potential partners.
Experts and program mentors include Chudi Amu, Vice President of Investment at Verod Capital; Shirley Somuah, Investor at Cardinal Stone Partners; Seun Abolaji, Creative Director at Wilson’s Juice Company; and Tunde Kehinde and Ercin Eskin, Cofounders of ACE.
The entrepreneurs will have the opportunity to pitch their businesses at an investor Demo Day in October and compete for N2 million investment from SLA along with other business support services.
It will be recalled that SLA partnered with the Work in Progress! Alliance (VC4Africa and Oxfam) and Guaranty Trust Bank to create a three-month accelerator programme designed to identify, support and fund the next generation of Nigeria’s brightest female entrepreneurs.
