Building on Transformative Impact, RevUp Women Initiative: Nigeria Edition Launches at Lagos Startup Week 2025
Building on Transformative Impact, RevUp Women Initiative: Nigeria Edition Launches at Lagos Startup Week 2025 Following the success and impact of its inaugural cohort, the RevUp Women Initiative is proud to announce the official launch of RevUp Women Initiative: Nigeria Edition on July 11 during the 10th year Anniversary of Lagos Startup Week organized by Prime Startups. Launching the program in Nigeria represents a significant milestone in the initiative’s mission to empower women-led businesses through a combination of enterprise development, strategic mentorship, and access to funding. With it’s first edition now completed, the RevUp Women Initiative has proven that targeted investment in women entrepreneurs yields transformative results. The first edition supported 459 women entrepreneurs from 5 African countries—Nigeria, Kenya, South Africa, Cameroon, and the Democratic Republic of Congo—creating 2,426 jobs and providing access to critical resources, including training on business models, financial management, and digital tools; positioning them for sustained growth and long-term success. Ten participants were awarded $10,000 each in grants and accessed mentorship from a global community to support their growth. Building on this achievement, the RevUp Women Initiative: Nigeria Edition will support 150 women-led businesses in Lagos, Abuja, and Abia, with a focus on Agribusiness and E-commerce sectors, which are key industries for economic growth and innovation. The program’s participants will connect with successful women entrepreneurs, and six outstanding participants will be considered for grant funding, totaling $24,000 and distributed among the selected awardees. “We’ve seen firsthand how intentional support and access to the right tools and networks can shift the trajectory of women-led businesses, not just helping them survive but thrive. Through tailored capacity building, mentorship, and meaningful partnerships, we’ve watched ideas turn into impactful ventures. With this new phase, we are doubling down on both impact and inclusivity, ensuring that more women across Nigeria have the resources, visibility, and community they need to grow scalable, sustainable businesses and become key players in the innovation ecosystem.”— Nanko Madu, Director of Programs at AfriLabs “Small businesses represent 90% of all companies, and account for nearly 70% of both jobs and GDP worldwide. With such a large footprint, they are an integral part of our global economy’s fabric and can’t be overlooked,” said Chukwudi Onike, Program Officer, Visa Foundation. “At Visa Foundation, we are focused on empowering SMBs and entrepreneurs with access to capital, digital tools and financial skills to grow and thrive. Our partnership with AfriLabs helps us reach more entrepreneurs in need of support, including women entrepreneurs.” Applications for the Rev Up Women Initiative: Nigeria Edition will be open from July 11 to August 8, 2025. Interested participants are encouraged to visit the official website at www.revupwomen.com to stay updated and prepare for the application launch. The RevUp Women Initiative remains committed to supporting Africa’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, with an ambitious long-term goal of supporting 50,000 women-led enterprises and creating over 152,000 jobs. With a strong foundation laid and an enthusiastic cohort of trailblazing women ready to step forward, this next edition promises to push boundaries and unlock even greater impact. About RevUp Women Initiative RevUp Women is an initiative dedicated to empowering women entrepreneurs across Africa. Through mentorship, training, and access to resources, RevUp Women provides women with the support they need to start and grow successful businesses, driving economic growth and fostering gender equality. Learn more at RevUp Women. About AfriLabs AfriLabs is an innovation-focused organization established in 2011 to empower a community of innovation hubs and stakeholders across Africa. Our mission is to support these hubs in nurturing high-potential entrepreneurs, driving economic growth, and fostering social development across the continent. Through capacity building, financing, networking, policy advocacy, and reliable data provision, AfriLabs works to create a thriving innovation economy in Africa. Our goal is to equip entrepreneurs with essential skills and resources for sustainable development within the tech and innovation landscape. For more information about AfriLabs and the Rev Up Women initiative, visit www.afrilabs.com & RevUp Women For media inquiries, please contact pr@afrilabs.com & comms@afrilabs.com
UNFPA in collaboration with AfriLabs launches its Incubation Programme to support ideas tackling FGM and Climate Change
Following the successful training at the UNFPA Climate and FGM HackLab (virtual bootcamps), 6 innovators were selected as winners in a follow-up pitch event and have been invited to participate in the UNFPA Incubation Programme. UNFPA in partnership with AfriLabs will leverage AfriLabs’ existing pipeline of innovation hubs across the locations of the innovators to provide a robust and intensive 6-month incubation programme, which will entail capacity-building activities focused on product and business development of the selected innovations, and support with resources and opportunities to produce full-fledged viable and scalable innovations and solutions. The selected hubs will provide incubation services to the UNFPA Climate and FGM HackLab top innovators via online and offline channels throughout the programme. UNFPA East and Southern Africa Regional Office, under the flagship Safeguard Young People Programme, launched the Climate HackLab project in May 2021. The HackLab is a climate innovation project that aims to build climate resilience and generate innovative climate adaptation solutions led by young people, especially women and girls. The UNFPA FGM HackLab project aims to empower young people and offer them the opportunity to be game-changers and drivers of a sustainable green future. The project targets young innovators, especially women and girls, who have innovative solutions that will accelerate efforts toward UNFPA’s goal of ending gender-based violence and harmful practices by 2030. Meet the selected innovators and startups Agnes Kimweri is a Laboratory Technologist and founder of Agki Medical Laboratory company in Tanzania. By using free carbon immersion electric motorcycles Agki medical lab offers mobile clinics for anaemia patients especially pregnant women and children under five age living in rural communities by providing affordable haemoglobin tests, health education and drugs such as folic acid for those with low blood levels. Agripa Maposa is the CEO and founder of Tivwane Money Solution, a registered company in Zambia that supplies financing and training to help small farmers grow their way out of hunger. To combat climate change which causes all forms of malnutrition, poverty and hunger amongst smallholder farmers in Zambia and Africa at large, Tivwane Money Solution provides Agriculture Asset-Based Loans such as solar irrigation equipment systems for small-scale farmers to increase their farm production. Joseph Mulabbi is the Team Lead of AXCES Mobile System based in Uganda. Health Mobile Application, to connect beneficiaries with medical services providers. The idea aims to improve access to health services (health, social, legal) for victims of Female Genital Mutilation (FGM). Dirug Samuel Yugoro is the Team Lead of Big Family 360 Foundation based in Nigeria. This is a mobile app that enhances access to Female Genital Mutilation (FGM) services and information by way of referral through mobile technology & survivors can access services anonymously. Roukiatou SEDGO is the Team Lead of Afriyan Burkina based in Burkina Faso. It is a website, which will allow the dissemination of the testimonies of victims, written or audiovisual; and provide medical and psychological help for these victims. Deborah NANSANGA is the Team Lead of HERstory based in Uganda. A mobile application to collect and analyse crowdsourced, anonymous reports of FGM practices identifying patterns and key insights to increase awareness, transparency and public accountability and improve policy and tactical precision with data-led insights. AfriLabs, being the largest pan-African community of innovation centres across Africa with 353+ hubs that operate in 50 African countries selected a member hub in each of the innovators’ countries to carry out the incubation programme. Meet the selected hubs Ennovate Hub, Dar Es Salaam & Mwanza, Tanzania – Ennovate Hub is an incubator and co-creation space with the fundamental objective to facilitate entrepreneurship development across the continent, inspire innovation in designing today’s solutions for the future, support early-stage entrepreneurs to scale and become investment-ready and to build collaborations across the startup value chain to strengthen startup economic activities. Jacaranda Hub, Lusaka, Zambia – Jacaranda hub has an independent body that oversees the management and runs a not-for-profit business model. They are an Incubator and Accelerator focused on social impact, youth engagement and skill acquisition and get most of their funds from Africa. North-East Humanitarian Innovation Hub, Yola, Nigeria – North-East Humanitarian Innovation Hub developed an ecosystem of innovation close to conflict and natural disaster-affected people by co-creating solutions with them and with humanitarian service providers to address the protection and assistance challenges that have remained so far neglected to address in the recovery rebuilding of the North East. Burkina Business Incubator (BBI), Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso – The Burkina Business Incubator Association (BBI) is an incubation centre for SMEs, a framework for the maturation of ideas for innovative projects and training in business creation, business development, a real common working space. Its main purpose is the promotion of entrepreneurship through the selection of innovative and high-potential projects and their support from ideas to launch through the economic model, studies, training of the promoter, mobilisation of resources and the creation of the company. BBI prioritizes projects from the following areas: Information and Communication Technologies (ICT), Agro-Industry, Tourism and Hospitality, Renewable Energies and Environment, and Crafts. Stay with us as we share more updates on the journey of these admitted startups. For further enquiries, kindly send an email to taiye@afrilabs.com.
AfriLabs partners with Zayed Sustainability Prize for an African workshop in Rwanda to attract more entries
AfriLabs, the largest pan-African network of technology and innovation hubs with over 340 members across 52 African countries, is set to host an awareness session in Rwanda on June 27, 2022, to encourage local participation in the 2023 edition of the Zayed Sustainability Prize. As the United Arab Emirates’ (UAE) pioneering global award for recognising excellence in sustainability, the Prize’s US$3 million annual fund rewards winners US$600,000 in each of the Health, Food, Energy, and Water categories. While the Global High Schools category is split into six world region winners, with each school receiving up to US$100,000 to start or further expand their project. Inspired by the sustainability and humanitarian legacy of the UAE’s founding father, Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan, the Prize has, since its inception in 2008, awarded a total of 96 winners whose solutions or student-led school projects have positively transformed the lives of 370 million people around the world. The Health, Food, Energy, and Water categories reward organisations that are already delivering impact and improving living and working conditions with their products and services. In the Global High Schools category, the Prize supports student-led projects in one or more of the four categories (Health, Food, Energy and Water) with the students actively involved in the planning, implementation, and monitoring processes. Rwanda’s emerging innovation ecosystem and its thousands of entrepreneurs have the opportunity to showcase their work and impact to an international audience through the Zayed Sustainability Prize. Established in 2011, AfriLabs builds a community around rapidly emerging tech hubs – innovation spaces that serve as meeting points and communities for developers, entrepreneurs, and investors. AfriLabs’ Executive Director, Anna Ekeledo, said: “AfriLabs is indeed excited to be joining forces with the Zayed Sustainability Prize, a global award that recognises and rewards the achievements of those who are driving impactful, innovative, and inspiring sustainability solutions across Health, Food, Energy, and Water sectors. We will leverage our expertise in stakeholders’ engagement and organising national and pan-African events to host awareness sessions and workshops in Rwanda to raise awareness about the prize and encourage more African innovators to enter and potentially benefit from this opportunity.” The awareness session will provide attendees including organisations and high schools with a practical tutorial on how to apply for the Prize and inform them about the benefits of participation – for themselves as entrants and the country. Applicants are encouraged to submit their entries by July 6, 2022. To qualify for consideration, submissions should demonstrate the following three core criteria: Impact: Significant and tangible outcomes on the quality of people’s lives. Innovation: Distinctive characteristics that positively transform lives and have the potential to catalyse opportunities that will have a disruptive positive impact. Inspiration: The potential to scale up project outcomes, over the next decade, and the ability to inspire others. For the Global High Schools category, their projects should be designed to deliver a positive educational impact, including providing access to quality education and ensuring students are given key skills and capabilities to achieve their goals. Like the other categories, each project should demonstrate new and innovative approaches and be inspirational to others. In the Global High Schools category, however, students may propose to solve a combination of challenges across all Health, Food, Energy, and Water categories; not just focusing on one. Winners will be announced at the 2023 Zayed Sustainability Prize Awards Ceremony on January 16, 2023, as part of Abu Dhabi Sustainability Week (ADSW). For more information, visit www.ZayedSustainabilityPrize.com.
Intel and AfriLabs collaborate to support the African Deep Tech Startup Ecosystem
AfriLabs is excited to announce that we have partnered with the global manufacturer of advanced integrated digital technology platforms, Intel to gain a deeper understanding of the African deep-tech startup ecosystem and identify pathways in which Intel can extend their support to deep tech startups on the continent. The startup scene in Africa has experienced incredible growth in recent years, and this is partly a result of several significant interventions by stakeholders to enable entrepreneurship and innovation in local ecosystems. AfriLabs and Intel’s collaboration hopes to sustainably build on the work done and set a framework for future interventions. “To give more impactful support to the startup ecosystem in Africa, we need to consider specialised capacity building. Different kinds of startups need different kinds of support, and the AfriLabs partnership with Intel explores learning more about how we could better support deep tech ventures. I am particularly excited about this collaboration and how it would lay the foundation for deeper interactions between the ecosystem and big global tech players like Intel.” Anna Ekeledo, Executive Director, AfriLabs said during her opening remarks. At the official partnership agreement signing ceremony on the 24th of May, 2022, Intel was represented by Maurits Tichelman, Vice President SMG & GM EMEA Territory, Intel (virtual), Dr Bienvenu AGBOKPONTO SOGLO, Director, Government Affairs Africa and EMEA CTO Liaison, Intel (onsite), Kate Hach, Head of Program, Intel Ignite’s accelerator (virtual) and the Emerging Markets Director for Government and Education of Intel Corporation, Mr Sven Beckmann (virtual). “As part of our desire to support the African Startups Ecosystem, Intel is looking to learn from and harvest new technology disruptions that will help position Intel’s Business in Africa in areas such as Healthcare, Fintech, Agriculture, E-commerce, Mobility, Hardware/IoT that are enabled by Intel Technologies.” said Maurits Tichelman, Vice President SMG & GM EMEA Territory, Intel during the signing ceremony. “It is in this regard, that we are signing a collaboration agreement with AfriLabs” he continued. Anna Ekeledo, Executive Director of AfriLabs, Daniel Chinagozi, Member of the AfriLabs Board, Ajibola Odukoya, AfriLabs COO, Nekesa Were, Director of Strategy, AfriLabs, Felista Aku, Partnerships Manager at AfriLabs and other members of the AfriLabs team represented the AfriLabs. A cross-section of high-level local and regional innovation ecosystem key players was also present. The partnership will leverage AfriLabs’ pan-African reach to map startups and ecosystem stakeholders and provide recommendations for future modes of collaboration that will ensure continuous deal flow and establish a presence for Intel. Dr Bienvenu AGBOKPONTO SOGLO, Director Government Affairs Africa & EMEA CTO Liaison, Intel also spoke about the organisation’s ambition: “As Intel looks ahead to the next decade, our ambitions and opportunities have never been greater to unleash the power of data and help advance integrated corporate responsibility strategies in which companies use collaborative models to drive increased value creation and societal impact.” A prominent outcome of this partnership is that African startups in deep-tech will be introduced to Intel programs: Intel Ignite and Intel OneAPI for startups. A hybrid workshop focused on these programs was held after the signing ceremony with several startups from across the continent in attendance. Stay tuned as we share more about the activities of this partnership and how you can be a part of it. For more information, reach out to Felista Aku at felista@afrilabs.com.