Top three businesses to access $150,000

Entries have now opened for the second stream of #SurulereStartups – where 10 young people running businesses 1 – 3 years old will be selected for an 8-week televised boot camp. 3 winning businesses will win access to over $150,000 in cash, media inventory and business incubation.

“#SurulereStartups is the first stream of the #StartupsAfrica project, which is a community-based enterprise programme that kicked off in April 2014,” said Remi Ogunkayo, an alumnus of the programme and Project Manager. “Here, young born-and-bred Nigerian entrepreneurs will be trained, mentored and supported to ensure they survive and grow. Our mandate is to help start-ups across African communities with training, access to funding and ancillary services.”

The first edition of #SurulereStartups held from April – June 2014 and involved 10 young entrepreneurs from in and around Surulere (Lagos, Nigeria) trained and mentored on Financing, Access to Markets, People Management, Business Planning and Marketing, amongst others.

The second edition takes that model and aggressively expands it, with a network of mentors and business coaches working actively with 10 entrepreneurs over an 8-week period. The 10 businesses must demonstrate a high-growth potential to be selected.

The boot camp will end with the participants presenting 5-year business strategies to a judging panel of respected business leaders. The top 3 entrepreneurs will get access to $15,000 in cash, $100,000 in media inventory (TV, radio, print and online) and $40,000 in business incubation including user/market testing, office space, connectivity, marketing support and administration. This package will include one-year access to funds, mentors and networks.

“This started as an informal passion project of mine, supported by our media group RED,” said media entrepreneur Chude Jideonwo, named by Forbes as one of Africa’s top 30 entrepreneurs under 30. “I was born in Surulere, Lagos; spending the first 20 years of my life.