Facebook graduates 15 Nigerian startups in its accelerator programme

Facebook says it has collaborated with Co-Creation Hub to graduate 15 Nigerian startups from its NG_Hub FbStart Accelerator Programme. Kendra Nnachi, Facebook Startups and Developers Programme Manager in Lagos on Tuesday, said that the programme was in fulfillment of its commitment to support and empower local start-ups and upcoming entrepreneurs in realising their business goals.

Nnachi said the FbStart accelerator was a research and mentorship driven six-month programme for innovative and visionary teams daring to create solutions with advanced technologies.

She said the accelerator programme provided the startups with the support they needed to build and optimise value driven products and match them with resources from Facebook and CcHUB.

Nnachi said Facebook and CcHub organised a Demo Day and pitching session for the graduating startups. She said the session afforded the startups the opportunity to pitch their solutions, ranging from Agritech, Healthtech, E-transport, Virtual Reality and Artificial Intelligence.

According to her, the solutions are pitched to investors and potential customers from around the world to have first-hand experience trying out the products.

Director of Incubation, CcHub, Damilola Teidi, said the partnership between Facebook and Cchub was beneficial. Teidi said: “We partnered with Facebook last year because as an incubation hub, we understand the intricacies and issues facing startups in the country, especially with regards to funding.

“This year, we regard these pitching startups as harvested potentials and this platform presents an opportunity for optimisation and funding for them.”

Among the startups and their solutions are RoadPreppers who designed Lara.ng, a chatbox for public transit directions in Nigeria and other developing countries.

Quadron Studios came up with QVES, a Virtual Reality safety training solution that prepares enterprise workers for emergency situations by use of immersive virtual training experiences.

Gricd Agroservices, whose product, GRICD Frij is an affordable and portable cold chain device for efficient storage of vaccines, blood and other health/agricultural products.

Also Vetsark, a web-based platform that uses disease report data to predict, prevent and manage disease outbreaks, for the benefit of livestock farmers, veterinarians and public health.

Other startups are DeepQuest AI, Project Move, Up NEPA, Treplabs, Plantheus, Cycles, Insyt, SayPeace, Chiniki Guard, Team Kanji, as well as Smart Electricity.