The Southeast Venture Capital Program (SEVCP) will come to an exciting end in 10 days as 50 startups vie for the prize money of $5,000 for early-stage startups and $20,000 for accelerator startups.
The venture capital’s grand finale and Investment Awards Night will be held on May 25th and 26th consecutively at the International Conference Centre in Enugu. The Southeast Venture Capital Program is the inaugural program of the Southeast Development Commission (SEDC), and it looks to inject about N70 billion into the Southeast tech ecosystem.
Eligible startups from these programs must belong to these ten tech categories.
- Manufacturing and Industrial Tech
- Agritech and Food Systems
- Fintech and Financial Inclusion
- Commerce and Logistics
- Healthtech
- Clean Energy
- Edtech
- Creative Economy
- Proptech
- Digital Economy and Saas.
They must also fall under the two broad categories of early-stage or incubator startups or the accelerator category.
The Journey from 1000 to 50
The first stage of this SEVCP venture capital program received over 1000 applicants from interested parties in the five southeastern states. After a rigorous selection process by established judges, the number was whittled down to 209 firms for the second stage.
The 209 firms that made it to the second stage were further drilled by judges to get the current 50 firms that will be competing in the finals to make the last 30 slots that will receive financial investments into their ventures.
The startups were evaluated based on their traction, product market fit, team, and quality of problem being solved. A lineup of 10 experts sits on the program’s advisory board and will be put to use on the grand finale day by the SEDC.
The SEDC Chief Mark Okoye, in a recent interview, commented on the need for the program. He drew parallels between the program and the current situation of the South East talent market and ecosystem.
Okoye argued that the Southeast does not suffer from a lack of talent. Rather he stated that talents in the region suffer from a lack of access to capital and mentorship. Conveniently, these two ingredients are the main offer of the Southeast Venture Capital Program. This makes it a timely and well thought out initiative suited with the times.
