This project focused on assisting NASENI, a government agency, in supporting startups aligned with their mandate of capital goods research, production, and reverse engineering sectors.
Challenges incubating startups in unique sectors due to limited data.
Developed a framework to identify high-impact startups, aligning with NASENI's goals.
Projected to generate over 3 million jobs, reduce the import bill by 25%, and increase exports by 2030.
Background
At Corely, the company I founded, we focused on helping government agencies. In a conversation with the EVC of NASENI, I learned about their struggles to nurture startups, especially in science, technology, and engineering sectors, where funding was scarce due to limited data. This prompted me to reach out to my former colleague and good friend, Musa Dabra, to brainstorm a solution together.
Context
We proposed creating the NASENI Catalyst Hub (NCHub), an incubation and acceleration platform tailored to Nigeria's startup landscape. We developed a framework to identify impactful startups in target sectors, aligning with NASENI's mandate to boost GDP by funding initiatives that promote local production.
We created a web portal where founders could register, undergo AI screening, find co-founders, and access resources.
Additionally, we incorporated a learning platform by partnering with educational institutions to offer courses for startup founders.
A key component was a dashboard providing insights like sentiment analysis, startup growth rates, funding distribution, and revenue analysis. We estimated that with sufficient platform use, NASENI could make data-driven decisions within 2-3 years in a sector where data was limited.
Outcomes
- Projected to generate over 3 million jobs, reduce the import bill by 25%, and increase exports by 2030.
- Improved efficiency in identifying and nurturing high-impact startups.
- Enabled NASENI to make data-driven decisions by tracking founder data and industry trends.
- Enhanced accessibility to knowledge and resources for startup founders through a web portal.