Five Nigerian startups have secured €120,000 (about N196.05m) from the Orange Corners Innovation Pitch Competition. The winning startups are Deluxe Creation Studios, Film Anatomie Manufacturing, Tquart Food, Klay Functional Foods & Production Limited, and Nutrition4Kids NG.
Organized by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and implemented by the FATE Foundation, Orange Corners aims to empower young Nigerian entrepreneurs. The funding, comprising a 75% grant and a 25% loan, will assist these entrepreneurs in developing and scaling their businesses, fostering economic growth and job creation in Nigeria.
Adenike Adeyemi, Executive Director of FATE Foundation, highlighted the importance of early-stage funding in facilitating the growth and success of Nigerian startups. The program provides support in ideation, development, testing, prototyping, and establishing a robust business model.
The competition, which saw 20 businesses assessed by a jury, aims to contribute to an enabling entrepreneurship ecosystem. The Orange Corners Incubation Programme offers entrepreneurs enterprise development knowledge, mentoring, market access, and funding. To date, it has supported 180 entrepreneurs with over N807m in funding, with 45% of these businesses being female-owned.
The call for applications for the 10th cohort of the incubation program is currently open, offering further opportunities for aspiring entrepreneurs to receive support and funding for their ventures.
