ACTIVITIES | Make-IT Accelerator Kick-Off Nigeria
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Selection of the first Make-IT Accelerator intake in Nigeria
From November 21st - 23rd, 2017 Make-IT welcomed 30 different start-ups from West African countries covering Nigeria, Ghana, Senegal, and the Gambia to the final selection round for the Make-IT Accelerator program. The start-ups represented the sectors of agriculture, energy, education, fintech and health. The event was hosted by Co-Creation Hub (CcHub) located in “Yaba Valley”, Lagos.
CcHub is Make-IT’s implementing partner for the first phase of the accelerator.
The first two days (November 21st and 22nd) put the start-ups through a selection process where each of them received scores during the following three activities: peer to peer pitches, team workshops, and jury interviews. In total, 15 start-ups were invited to participate in the first intake of the Make-IT Accelerator program, launching in Lagos, Nigeria in January 2018. A similar process took place in Nairobi to choose 15 start-ups from East African countries.
Selection process
The Jury
Selection Criteria
Follow up
The Jury
The jury was composed of stakeholders with a particular interest in digital start-ups and Make-IT in Africa. Participants on the jury included:
- Victoria Fabunmi, Growth Capital Investment
- Oladayo Orolu, Siemens
- Rasheed Olaoliwa, former MD of Bank of Industry, Niche Capital LLC
- Juliet Omorodion, SAP
- Seun Onigbinde, Founder, BudgIT
- Joel Ogunsola, Founder, Prunedge
- Tunji Eloso, Growth Capital Investment
- Ifeyinwa Egwaoje, Ashoka
- Josephine Nzerem, Ashoka
- Ogochukwi Ekezie-Ekaidem, Union Bank
- Tunji Adegbesan, Gidimobile
- Lotte Goos, AHK Nigeria (German Chamber Industry and Commerce in Nigeria)
Each start-up had 3 minutes to pitch their business model and up to 15 minutes with the jury, reserved for questions.
Selection Criteria
Prior to the final selection meeting, the start-ups applied to join the program via the Make-IT partner VC4Africa. Here, they underwent their first screening round by a jury compiled of members of the networks of GIZ, VC4Africa, endeva and CcHub Nigeria.
The jury deliberation process was facilitated by CcHub. Here, each jury member ranked the start-ups based on the following criteria (0-10 points per criterion):
- Business model
- Innovative use of technology
- Social impact
- Market
- Scaling potential
- Team competencies
- Quality of pitch/interview
Kick-off night
On November 23, 2017, the Make-IT Accelerator hosted a kick-off event at the rooftop of CcHub. The event was joined by Deputy Consul General, Ms. Alexandra Herr and the Portfolio Manager for GIZ Country Office in Abuja, Mr. Helge Sato.
Photos taken by Brian Obi
