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The Director General of National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, has lauded the Idea Hatch (iHatch) 1st Cohort Demo Day – a Startup Incubation Programme he described as a vibrant demonstration of the importance of collaboration for the promotion of innovation and entrepreneurship in Nigeria’s digital economy.
The programme is an initiative of NITDA through its subsidiary, Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI), in partnership with Japan International Corporation Agency (JICA).
It is desigjed as part of efforts for promoting growth of digital innovation and entrepreneurship based on the seven pillars of NITDA’s Strategic Roadmap and Action Plan (SRAP) 2021-2024.
Abdullahi expressed commitment to work with stakeholders in implementing initiatives that will accelerate innovation and provide the much-needed jobs for Nigerian youths.
“The partnership with JICA in the implementation of the iHatch programme is part of our initiatives to strengthen the tech and innovation ecosystem for the creation of more IDEs that will invariably contribute to creation of jobs for our teeming youth and the prosperity of our country”, said the NITDA boss. He was represented by National Director of the National Centre for Artificial intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR), Ya’u Garba,.
Abdullahi expressed the hope that the programme would go a long way in nurturing the entrepreneurial spirit of young innovative Nigerians to catalyze the Nigerian digital economy to the next level.
“This is to increase the number of Innovation-Driven Enterprises (IDES) viz a viz sustaining the growth of Nigeria’s digital economy.”, he said.
While giving a comprehensive overview of the different processes during the incubation period, he noted that over 5,000 entries were received.
“The number was pruned down to eight startups, comprising a Founder and Co-Founder for each startup, after undergoing two levels of rigorous selection process conducted by a panel of 10 judges, constituted of experts from diverse areas of technology and innovative entrepreneurship.”
“The selection process assessed the startups’ ideas based on the criteria of profitability, scalability, social impact, idea technique, competitive advantage, experience, and a clearly defined future roadmap”, he added.
According to Abdullahi, the startups benefited from free virtual and physical interactive lectures with experienced mentors, free workspace, mentorship meetings with tech professionals, pitch deck enhancement, and networking opportunities during the programme.
He said four startups that were initially not statutorily listed were, successfully registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) while work was already to ensure the prototyping and Intellectual Property (IP) registration of their business ideas.
The NITDA boss commended the Minister of Communications and Digital Economy, Professor Isa Ali Ibrahim Pantami, for facilitating the partnership between the Japanese and Nigerian governments and for making the iHatch programme a reality.
“Flowing from this partnership, NITDA and JICA conceptualised and designed the iHatch, a 5-month free intensive incubation programme executed by the ONDI and hosted within the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (NCAIR).”
“Essentially, the programme is designed to help Nigerian entrepreneurs refine their business ideas through a series of coaching, lectures, and bootcamps to generate scalable and adaptable business models in the country”, he noted.
According to him, Nigeria is reported to have an estimated 3,300 startups in 2020, which is highest on the African continent, which means the startups ecosystem has continued to attract more investment than other countries on the continent; and a number of startups raised in excess of $600 million in the first quarter of 2022.
“The top ten startups that attracted the funding are Flutterwave ($250 million); Moove ($105 million); ThriveAgric ($56.4 million); Reliance Health ($40 million); Bamboo ($15 million); Credpal ($15 million); SeamlessHR ($10 million); DrugStoc ($4.4 million); Casava ($4 million) and Sudo Africa ($3.7 million). These clearly indicates the vast potentials that abound within Nigeria’s tech and innovation ecosystem”, Abdullahi said.
Other speakers at the event include the Chief Representative, JICA Nigeria, Susumu Yakzorio and the AG. National Coordinator, ONDI, Yakubu Musa..
Eight innovators pitched at the event including e-dokta, SolutionMed, Authentic QRTech, EveryFarmer, XTID Network, Afrinet Powertech, Beta life, and Xolani Health.
Xolani Health, Evlvery Farmer and Betalife clinched the first, second and third positions respectively.
The winers were awarded the sum of $15,000 each, courtesy of JiCA.
The Demo Day signaled the end of the first cohort and inauguration of the second Clcohort of the iHatch Startup Incubation Programme.
