Eleven female technology entrepreneurs have completed the seventh cohort of the Women in Tech Incubator and Accelerator Programme, established by the Enterprise Development Centre of Pan-Atlantic University in partnership with the Standard Chartered Foundation and Village Capital.
The initiative is focused on helping women-owned technology and technology-driven businesses develop and grow. Since its introduction in 2019, the programme has supported 60 women, with participating businesses making contributions across areas such as education, healthcare, fashion, wellness and supply chain management.
At the graduation ceremony held in Lagos, the Director of the Enterprise Development Centre, Dr Nneka Okekearu, explained that the programme had been adjusted over the years to reflect developments in the economy and the technology industry.
She said the latest beneficiaries were exposed to specialised advisory support, as well as mentoring, coaching and capacity-building sessions aimed at improving the performance of their businesses.
“Every year we see changes economically, socially, and in the tech space. This year, we introduced more specialised advisory services,” Okekearu said.
She explained that another key area of the programme was helping the founders strengthen their financial and governance systems, including the establishment of boards for their businesses.
“We set up a board for each business to help them refine their model. When that is done, they become a magnet for funding. They have financial discipline, financial literacy, and all the structures funders require,” she said.
Okekearu further disclosed that participants could benefit from seed grants and access to single-digit loan pools available through the programme’s network.
She said eligible businesses must have at least 51 per cent female ownership, use technology in their operations and have moved beyond the idea stage.
According to her, many of the businesses in the seventh cohort were created to address challenges experienced directly by the founders or issues they had identified within their communities.
“We have a woman building a platform for children with learning disabilities. Another built a platform after watching her mother make over a million naira daily but couldn’t access funding because of a lack of documentation,” she said.
Also speaking, the Head of Corporate Affairs, Brand and Marketing at Standard Chartered Nigeria, Joke Adu, reaffirmed the financial institution’s commitment to increasing economic opportunities available to women through entrepreneurship.
She explained that the programme provides participants with business training and advisory services, while selected founders are also given seed funding to support the expansion of their businesses.
“Today we are celebrating Cohort 7 of the Standard Chartered Foundation Women in Tech Incubator. We started in 2019 and have supported 60 women, impacting thousands,” Adu said.
She noted that businesses supported through the initiative were tackling challenges in different sectors and appealed for stronger partnerships between organisations and government to create more opportunities for women entrepreneurs.
The Founder and Executive Director of the Women’s Technology Empowerment Centre, Oreoluwa Leshi, who delivered the keynote address, said greater involvement of women in technology was essential to Nigeria’s development.
Leshi disclosed that women represented only about 20 per cent of Nigeria’s technology workforce, noting that more initiatives were needed to connect women-led businesses with mentorship, funding and business support.
For one of the graduates, the Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Check It Limited, Fara Popoola, the programme provided the clarity she needed to streamline her business operations and identify her ideal customers.
Check It Limited runs Proctor 360, a platform developed to assist wholesalers in protecting trade during import and export.
“Three months ago, I was all over the place with multiple products and customer segments. This programme helped me focus on my ideal customer and how to serve them,” Popoola said.
She added that the grant awarded to her business would be used to deploy field agents and increase the company’s reach among businesses in the informal sector.
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