Leadpath Nigeria, the latest technology startup accelerator in Africa’s most populous nation has commenced operations.
In a public launch event held on Friday, 7th of February, the early stage startup support platform unveiled its 1.5 million dollar fund and startup workspace the Lagos technology community to an audience of investors, entrepreneurs and developers.
[pull_quote_center]LeadPath Nigeria’s 1.5 million dollar seed fund is focused on startups doing business in software applications, mobile applications, electronic payments and big data.[/pull_quote_center]The accelerator is headed by Olumide Soyombo, a serial entrepreneur based in Lagos with previous and current ventures ranging across technology, finance and logistics. Also on the Leadpath Nigeria team are Kazeem Tewogbade, and Tope Ajao, who between them possess decades of experience in IT, financial services, strategy and telecoms.
According to Olumide Soyombo, the accelerator’s typical investments range between $25,000 to $100,000 in the first instance, as well as follow-on investments from LeadPath and other venture funds. LeadPath will also offer office space, mentorship and other services such as (legal, accounting ,tax etc) to their investees, helping them achieve scale and success in a promising but challenging market.
With its global network of venture capital interests, Leadpath Nigeria is able to secure millions of dollars in follow-on investment for members of the accelerator programme that show the capacity to take their execution to the next level. On the accelerator’s advisory board seasoned are Mike Silvey, Richard Lewis and Amit Saxena, all of whom have decades of experience building, scaling and investing in technology companies in Silicon Valley and beyond.
The accelerator is situated in the heart of Yaba, where Nigeria’s technology startup revolution is currently gaining steam. Leadpath Nigeria’s choice of location is predicated mainly on the growing concentration of technology startups and entrepreneurs, attracted by the likes of the Co-Creation Hub and iDEA.
In the weeks to come, Leadpath will be making a public call for technology startups that want to be part of its first accelerator cohort. Other startups that are already in the Leadpath portfolio include Bluechip Technologies, Simer, Afriqbuy and Enreach.
