The South East Development Commission (SEDC) has announced plans to support 30 young innovators from the South-East region with equity investments of up to $20,000 each as part of efforts to strengthen the region’s emerging technology and startup ecosystem.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the commission, Mark Okoye, disclosed this on Monday in Enugu during the South-East Pitch Competition organised by the commission.
Okoye said the initiative is aimed at addressing long-standing challenges faced by young innovators in the region, particularly limited access to finance and weak founder support systems.
He noted that many talented graduates and entrepreneurs from South-East universities have been forced to relocate to other parts of the country in search of funding and opportunities.
“We had the talent, the expertise, the entrepreneurial spirit and the commitment, but there were gaps within the ecosystem. One of them is access to finance and the second one is founder support,” he said.
He explained that the venture capital programme aligns with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which prioritises innovative financing and startup development across the country.
Okoye described the initiative as a regional implementation of the federal government’s broader push for innovation-driven economic growth.
According to him, the commission spent its first year engaging stakeholders across the region, including private sector players, state governments, civil society groups, faith-based organisations, and diaspora networks before launching the programme.
He further explained that the initiative represents a soft launch of a wider venture capital plan targeting about $500,000 in investments across startups in the region.
“It is not grants. It is not empowerment. It is a merit-based, transparent and governance-secured process that is an investment into each of these startups,” he said.
Over 1,200 Applications, 30 Winners to Emerge
Okoye revealed that more than 1,200 startups applied within the first three weeks of the programme.
He said the applications were screened down to 189, before independent assessors shortlisted 50 startups currently participating in the pitch competition in Enugu.
According to him, 30 startups will eventually emerge successful.
He explained that 20 of the selected startups will enter the accelerator track for already operational businesses, while others will be placed in an incubation programme to develop minimum viable products.
Startups in the accelerator category will receive $20,000 each in equity investment, while early-stage innovators will receive about $5,000.
Okoye added that beneficiaries will undergo a three-month mentorship programme covering corporate governance, accounting, finance, human resources, and business development.
“We want to ensure that these businesses grow sustainably. This is equity investment and there will be proper monitoring and governance structures,” he said.
Also speaking, the Executive Director of Finance and Chairman of the South-East Venture Capital Programme, Stanley Ohajuruka, described the initiative as one of the commission’s flagship interventions to scale up innovation and small businesses in the region.
He said the programme draws inspiration from the South-East apprenticeship system popularly known as the “Igba boy” model, which he described as an early form of venture capital.
“We want to modernise that unique system and use technology and innovation to build businesses that will benefit not only the entrepreneurs but society at large,” he said.
