10 entrepreneurs get N8m grant to boost businesses
17 August 2021 |
1:56 am
No fewer than 10 young entrepreneurs across Nigeria have received N8 million grants at the CrossPoint Innovate Pitch and Grant Conference to boost their businesses.
Entrepreneurs
No fewer than 10 young entrepreneurs across Nigeria have received N8 million grants at the CrossPoint Innovate Pitch and Grant Conference to boost their businesses.
The grant initiative, in its maiden edition, was birthed from CrossPoint Innovate, a training, mentorship and empowerment platform for young people and entrepreneurs.
The initiative had 1,000 entries for the pitch competition from which 10 businesses were selected to pitch for grants to support their businesses growth.
Speaking at the event, the convener of the initiative and Lead Pastor of CrossPoint Church, Ladipo Soyombo, said the grant process arose out of his growing concern for young people and entrepreneurs struggling through the global pandemic and looking for opportunities to thrive.
“Since the COVID-19 pandemic and the social unrest that came in the aftermath of the #endsars, we saw that millions of our young people are eager to express themselves and be productive members of society, but the opportunities in Nigeria are few. We decided to engage with people to discover what to do and then embarked on trainings to help unleash people’s potentials,” he said.
Speaking on the grants, Soyombo said the sum of N8million would be given to the 10 entrepreneurs with the first three who pitched the most outstanding idea getting more funds to boost their businesses.
After a series of spirited pitches from the top 10 competitors, Emergency Station by Elcutiee, Maximus Recycling Solutions and Keramel Naturals, emerged as first, second and third place winners for the CrossPoint innovate grant of N2 million, N1.5 million and N1 million respectively, while the other seven runners up received grants of N500,000 each.
The keynote speaker, Managing Director, AIICO Insurance, Babatunde Fajemirokun, who spoke on “Building a Thriving Business in Turbulent Times,” said Nigeria is at a crossroad with a high misery index quite high, which is a combination of high unemployment rate, inflation, poverty among others, with people leaving the country in their numbers every day.
He said the disruptions caused by the pandemic has caused a rethinking of the economics of business models, as economic crisis, government policies and changes in consumers taste and appetite, which occur more frequently can lead to an operating environment that is more volatile.
He noted that the goal of doing business should be to solve consumers’ problems in a way that it generates profits and provides a return on the investment required to start that business.
Fajemirokun further stated that the best leaders create an environment where ideas can be shared freely, and assumptions challenged with capital allocated efficiently.
He, however, urged the entrepreneurs to utilise grants given to them to grow their businesses and aspire to be among the top businesses in the world.
Related
Latest
14 mins ago
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has warned the public not to fall for a video suggesting it is auctioning vehicles. NCS on Friday refuted the video with scandalous narration announcing a purported auction of vehicles. Customs issued a statement on Friday to alert the general public on the video while warning them not to fall…
1 hour ago
A man set himself on fire Friday outside the court where Donald Trump is standing trial in Manhattan, with officers rushing to extinguish the flames. Burning clothes were strewn in the park, which was locked down by authorities, while ambulances lined up nearby on standby, an AFP correspondent at the scene saw, describing a strong…
3 hours ago
Leul Gebreselassie, the second Ethiopian man to win the men's title at the Okpekpe international 10km road race, will be gunning for his first major marathon win on Sunday at the London Marathon. The London Marathon is one of the six major marathons in the world. The rest are Boston, Berlin, New York, Tokyo, and Chicago…
4 hours ago
Akwa Ibom State Government has indicated readiness to commence aggressive desilting of gutters and flood channels across the state.
4 hours ago
The Delta State Police Command has urged Point-of-Sale (POS) operators to be cautious when handling large cash transactions, particularly those involving armed individuals. It noted that customers requesting large cash transactions should be accompanied by a video by the POS operator. Police spokesperson, SP Bright Edafe, stated on Friday in a post on X, noting…
4 hours ago
Lagos State government on Friday said it has apprehended 10 fake enforcement officials around the Cele/Itire axis of the Apapa-Oshodi Expressway of the state. The apprehended persons; Ojo Oluwaseun, Rafiu Agbabiaka, Babatunde Ibrahim, Abiodun Olusegun, Daniel Olanrewaju, Aweda Kabiru, Olufowobi Michael, Olamilekan Olasupo, Bunmi James and Iyiola Shola(female) were caught carrying out unauthorised enforcement using…
4 hours ago
Mikel Arteta has urged Arsenal to prove they have the mental strength to bounce back from a painful spell that wrecked their Champions League challenge and dented their Premier League title bid.
4 hours ago
Pep Guardiola has revealed Erling Haaland could miss Manchester City's FA Cup semi-final against Chelsea at Wembley on Saturday.
4 hours ago
The WHO announced Friday it had approved a new, simpler version of an existing oral cholera vaccine, which should help increase the number of available doses as global cases surge.
4 hours ago
The Registrar, Joint Admission and Matriculation Board (JAMB), Prof. Is-haq Oloyede has monitored the ongoing Unified Tertiary Matriculation Examination (UTME) exercise in Abuja. Prof. Oloyede who monitored the exercise at the Kogo Computer Based Tests (CBT) Centre in Bwari Area Council of Abuja, expressed satisfaction with the process. He reiterated the examination body's earlier order…
×
Get the latest news delivered straight to your inbox every day of the week. Stay informed with the Guardian’s leading coverage of Nigerian and world news, business, technology and sports.
0 Comments
We will review and take appropriate action.