Mary Nnah Nigeria is not short of entrepreneurs with solutions. What is missing, according to Bet9ja Foundation, is capital, access, and mentorship to turn those ideas into businesses that create jobs and survive beyond the first year. That reality played out over the weekend at the Bet9ja Foundation ScaleUp Business Pitch Night 2.0 in Lagos, where Schooled Afrika, an EdTech platform founded by Bukola Aleriwa, won the ₦10 million grand prize after the Foundation doubled the award from ₦5 million. The move, announced by Executive Director Ada Cuomo, was a direct response to what she called the biggest barrier facing young founders: lack of funding and visibility. Out of more than 900 applications received nationwide, only 10 startups made it through a rigorous selection process. For 10 weeks, they went through business strategy sessions, masterclasses, and one-on-one advisory in sectors critical to Nigeria’s development – EdTech, HealthTech, FinTech, AgriFinTech, AI, LegalTech, Sports Tech, and Cross-Border Trade. At the end, the Foundation disbursed ₦40 million in grants across all finalists, with BUZZA by Taofeeq Lawal taking First Runner-Up and Digitaley Drive by Ruby Ihekweme emerging Second Runner-Up. “The issue is urgent. Nigerian startups continue to battle tough operating conditions, limited investor access, and a funding ecosystem that often overlooks businesses outside Lagos,” Cuomo said, noting that ScaleUp was designed to address that directly by making mentorship virtual, selecting founders from across the country, and pushing winners toward bigger funding opportunities. Data from the first cohort shows the impact. Alumni reported revenue growth, new hires, and follow-on funding of up to $15,000 from international organisations after refining their pitches through the programme. Judges including Chinedu Allison of AVPA, Solomon King of Lagos Angel Network, and Ugochukwu Nwosu of ACT Foundation said they prioritised innovation, impact, and sustainability – businesses that would not “die in six months.” That lens reflects a larger problem: too many good ideas never scale because founders lack structured support and financial backing. Cornelius Ugunwa, co-founder of Go-Kardinal and a runner-up from the first edition, returned to testify how the accelerator helped position his logistics startup for national growth. Keynote speaker Gabriel Tosh urged the finalists to build resilience, warning that “ideas are buried in the grave because people never bring them to life.” With partners like Paystack, Bet9ja Foundation says it is betting on enterprise as a tool for development. The Foundation, which has executed over 240 projects across education, health and youth empowerment in all 36 states since 2023, argues that supporting 10 businesses with ₦40 million is a small step toward solving a big problem: turning Nigeria’s talent into employers. For Schooled Afrika and the other nine founders, Pitch Night was not a celebration of an ending. It was a test of whether targeted funding and mentorship can help Nigerian ideas survive the hardest part – the journey from promise to scale.
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