The Southeast Venture Capital Program concluded with a glamorous and astute Award Night Ceremony, during which the competition winners received their seed capital.
At the International Conference Center in Enugu, 30 winners of the SEVCP competition, along with judges, members of the advisory board, media personnel, and spectators, gathered for the Investment Ceremony and Award Night.
The award night follows the grand finale of the Southeast Venture Capital Program on Monday. Judges quizzed the 50 finalists and whittled them down to 30 winners.
The judges consist of both physical and virtual judges who vet the startups. Notable figures who made the list of Virtual judges include Tekedia’s Ndubuisi Ekekwe and Risevest’s Eke Urum.
Winners of the competition went away with seed capital of $5,000 for early-stage startups and $20,000 for accelerator startups. The N70 billion naira VC program is the foremost initiative of the Southeast Development Commission (SEDC). The SEDC hopes to invest in eastern Nigeria’s tech ecosystem, supporting its talents with adequate funds and training.
The SEDC CEO, Mark Okoye, believes funding and access to mentorship are the missing pieces in the region’s tech economy. The SEVCP has provided both to the equation, setting a good precedent for future programs in the region.
Critics Mount Pressure on SEDC
The SEDC under Okoye has come under attack by various high-profile critics. Critics believe the commission is a talking shop where ideas are always discussed but never executed. The just-concluded Venture Capital Program is a perfect response to such criticisms. It represents a direct injection of funds to promising tech startups in the region, a direct investment in the future.
The SEVCP competition was sponsored by MTN, Cascador, and other prominent brands seeking to leverage the event to give back to the people.
The SEDC was launched by the Bola Ahmed Tinubu Administration. The goal is to bring the Southeast on par with other regions of the country in terms of development. The commission is the youngest development commission in the country. The Niger Delta, South West, and North all have their own development commissions.
