Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo embarked on a trip to Silicon Valley with a Nigerian delegation of senior policy-makers and young tech ecosystem actors.
The trip is intended to promote Nigeria’s growing tech ecosystem and synergise with Silicon Valley’s tech ecosystem players around capital, mentorship and capacity development.
Within the same week of the trip, results are in. An agreement has been signed to set up a new corporate venture fund in partnership with the US-Nigeria Council. Africa-focused early-stage VC firm, Ventures Platform is directly in charge of this fund.
There is also participation by other Nigerian corporate organisations and executives, but their involvement is strategically aligned with the objectives of the fund.
The fund will target post-MVP stage companies with domain expertise building innovative startups to enterprise challenges.
Up to $250,000 will be invested into the startups initially, with the potential to follow on in later rounds. Beyond just capital, the fund will provide investee companies with access to market and distribution, growth support and partnerships, talent development, technology, as well as expertise from the fund backers and partners.
Speaking about the partnership, Kola Aina, Founding Partner of Ventures Platform said,
We are really excited about the opportunity to get Nigerian corporations and corporate leaders involved in supporting the inevitable future, and we’re pleased to partner with such an important organization as the US-Nigeria Council to make this journey possible.
Startups can begin to apply for investment immediately.
