Teach For Nigeria (TFN), a non-profit organization dedicated to building a movement of Nigeria’s most promising leaders across the country devoted to eradicating educational inequity, hosted its Incubation Hub Pitch Competition, from which two winners emerged.
With sponsorship from SNEPCo, the pitch day was hosted as part of Teach For Nigeria’s Incubation Hub Program, earlier launched in July, to support Teach for Nigeria Alumni in the social innovation space with relevant resources needed to drive their initiatives focused on promoting access to education for children in marginalized communities.
During the event, five of the innovators who had been selected as part of the cohort for the 2022 Incubation Hub had the opportunity to pitch for N1 million in seed funding. These innovators include: Oluwaseun Kayode of Schoolinka, Zainab Akintayo of Smart Garden Concept, Odinakachukwu Nwosu representing VirtualXcursions, Aramide of Talentmine Academy, and Obasanjo Fajemirokun of Brace-Up The Young. Of these five, two- Odinakachukwu Nwosu and Oluwaseun Kayode emerged as winners and were awarded N1 million each to expand their initiatives.
In her opening speech, Folawe Omikunle, CEO, Teach For Nigeria said “Through the Incubation Hub, participants are equipped with the practical knowledge required to build and sustain their social innovations. This is one of the essentials of building a society where innovation and other creative ideas can be used to develop society and improve the quality of learning.”
Commenting on his win, “Oluwaseun Kayode, Founder of Schoolinka and a pioneer member of the alumni body said “I came with high hopes for the pitch competition and I believe I have a solid product that the panels found very viable, scalable, sustainable, and a credible venture worth supporting. Schoolinka intends to intentionally scale to remote communities in the country with limited internet access, including some communities in other African countries.”
Dr. Isa Omagu, CEO of Premier Advisory Limited, and a judge at the event noted that “Using social innovations to solve social problems is the way to go. He further noted that the innovators who presented their business ideas had undergone structured business training and understand the business models of to run a sustainable”.
The Incubation Hub is a 3-month intensive enterprise development training that provides opportunities for TFN alumni to grow and scale their enterprises. Through the Incubation Hub, participants are equipped with the practical knowledge required to build and sustain their social innovations.
