ARM Labs Lagos Techstars acceleration program in Nigeria has been launched by venture capital firm Techstars, according to a press release. Asset and Resource Management Holding Company (ARM) and Ventures Platform have collaborated on this project as part of the ARM Labs innovation program for fintech start-ups, which has been under development since 2019. African fintech and proptech start-ups will be the focus of this program, which will invest in early-stage companies in these fields.
Nancy Wolff, Managing Director of Techstars, noted that the city “has established a thriving start-up ecosystem that needs more global exposure, investment, and resources, and we see tremendous potential in the market” as justification for choosing Lagos as the site of the innovation program. Nigeria’s startup environment, according to Techstar, is one of the fastest growing in the world, and it is expected to overtake Nairobi as the most important African startup hub in the Global Startup Ecosystem Index by 2021.
Read also Work Begins on Nigeria’s $250-Million Hyperscale Data Centre in Lagos
Following in the footsteps of the South African Techstars program, which debuted in 2016, the ARM Labs Lagos Techstars will be the second accelerator program offered by Techstars on the continent. With its investment and mentorship programs having been begun as early as 2011, the company has been operating in Africa for more than a ten-year period. More than 50 start-ups across Nigeria, Ghana, South Africa, Uganda, Kenya, and Tanzania have already benefited from the company’s investment.
Applications for the accelerator’s integration are scheduled to be submitted between June and August. Approximately 12 firms will be selected each year to participate in the program, which will provide them with investment and acceleration worth up to $120,000 as well as access to Techstars’ enormous network of 7,000+ mentors and 20,000+ investors. Starting in December 2022 and concluding with a demo day in March 2023, the program’s first cohort will be enrolled.
Read also Ride-hailing Company Careem Ventures Into Fintech After 10 Years In Business
It is an excellent chance for corporate partners to gain access to Africa’s burgeoning financial sector through the ARM Lab Lagos Techstars Accelerator Program. According to the investment tracking portal Partech, fintech will account for 63 percent ($3.28 billion) of all capital raised by start-ups in Africa in 2021.
Jumoke Ogundare (pictured), CEO of ARM, believes that the accelerator program intends to elevate the African continent to the rank of the world’s future fintech capital and alter the way Africans use financial services in the process.
To Learn More About The New Accelerator Program, Find The Link Below
https://www.techstars.com/accelerators/arm-labs-lagos
Charles Rapulu Udoh
Charles Rapulu Udoh is a Lagos-based lawyer, who has several years of experience working in Africa’s burgeoning tech startup industry. He has closed multi-million dollar deals bordering on venture capital, private equity, intellectual property (trademark, patent or design, etc.), mergers and acquisitions, in countries such as in the Delaware, New York, UK, Singapore, British Virgin Islands, South Africa, Nigeria etc. He’s also a corporate governance and cross-border data privacy and tax expert.
As an award-winning writer and researcher, he is passionate about telling the African startup story, and is one of the continent’s pioneers in this regard. You can book a session and speak with him using the link: https://insightsbyexperts.com/view_expert/charles-rapulu-udoh