Institution OF Learning

The PIND/NPO Startup Business Funding Program is an initiative aimed at supporting startups and small businesses in Nigeria by providing financial grants of up to N1.5 million. This program is often targeted at empowering entrepreneurs in the Niger Delta region to foster economic growth and sustainability. Key Features: 1. Grant Amount: Up to N1.5 million for eligible businesses. 2. Focus Areas: Typically includes sectors like agriculture, ICT, renewable energy, and other innovative businesses. 3. Target Audience: Startups and small businesses in the Niger Delta or with projects that have a social impact. Eligibility Criteria: Must be a registered business or a startup with a viable business idea. Focus on innovative or impact-driven projects. Demonstrate potential for scalability and sustainability. Operate within or target beneficiaries in the Niger Delta region. Application Process: 1. Visit the Official Website:  Application Portal 2. Prepare Your Application: Draft a detailed ...

Access Bank's Sustainable Finance Accelerator Program is designed to support the growth of businesses that address environmental and social challenges. The program offers resources, mentorship, and networking opportunities to help ventures scale their impact.  Key Features of the Program: Mentorship: Participants are paired with industry experts, seasoned entrepreneurs, and investors with strong backgrounds in sustainability.  Workshops and Training: Bi-weekly workshops cover topics such as sustainable business models, impact measurement, fundraising, and market strategy. Skill-building sessions focus on leadership, team building, and communication.  Funding: The program provides seed funding, subject to approval, and access to a network of impact investors and venture capitalists for potential follow-on funding.  Networking: Participants can connect with a global network of sustainability-focused startups, corporates, and thought leaders through regular events, demo...

THRIVE Academy is a 12-week pre-accelerator program designed for early-stage startups in the agrifood tech sector aiming to commercialize their innovations. The program assists entrepreneurs in de-risking and validating their ideas, developing and executing go-to-market strategies, and preparing to raise capital.  Program Structure: Phase 1 (Weeks 1-7): Intensive virtual programming Mentorship Foundation building for high-growth companies Preparation for market and investor readiness Phase 2 (Weeks 8-12): Application of learnings Continued mentorship Demo Day and in-person immersion Feedback for future steps Benefits: Acceleration: The program is designed to expedite your entrepreneurial journey toward commercial outcomes. Mentorship: Access to a network of industry insiders, corporates, alumni, and investors. Investment Readiness: Guidance on becoming investment-ready to enhance success when seeking external funding. Validation: Assistance in testing and validating your idea to ma...

The UNICEF Venture Fund is a financial mechanism aimed at supporting early-stage, open-source technology solutions with the potential to address global challenges. Specifically, its focus on AI and Blockchain for Data and Trust seeks to explore how these technologies can improve transparency, accountability, and inclusiveness in addressing issues affecting children and young people worldwide. Key Objectives: 1. Fostering Transparency: Leveraging blockchain to create tamper-proof systems for recording and verifying data. Improving trust in systems by making data collection, management, and sharing more transparent. 2. Building Accountability: Using AI for analyzing vast datasets to improve decision-making processes in humanitarian and development work. Ensuring that stakeholders in child welfare can be held accountable for their actions or decisions. 3. Promoting Inclusiveness: Creating solutions that bridge digital divides, ensuring underserved communities have access to innovative tec...

The Agri-SME Evidence Fund is inviting proposals for grants aimed at supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in the agriculture sector. These grants, which can go up to £100,000, are intended to help businesses address key challenges in agriculture by funding research, development, and testing of new solutions. The goal is to strengthen the evidence base for innovative agricultural solutions, promote sustainability, and enhance productivity in the sector. To apply, businesses need to submit proposals that demonstrate the potential impact of their project on the agricultural value chain, and how the research or innovation can improve productivity, sustainability, and resilience. The fund may prioritize projects that involve collaboration with academic institutions, research bodies, or other stakeholders, and those that aim to generate measurable and scalable outcomes. Specific criteria and application guidelines, including the exact deadline for submissions, will be availab...

The Changing Narrative Fund is an initiative aimed at reshaping perceptions and amplifying authentic stories about Africa. Its primary objective is to empower African storytellers, organizations, and creative professionals to challenge stereotypes and craft narratives that reflect the continent's diversity, innovation, and resilience. Key Features 1. Focus Areas: Supporting creative industries, such as film, literature, art, and digital media. Promoting projects that depict Africa in a positive and authentic light. Encouraging collaborative storytelling across nations and cultures. 2. Eligibility: Open to African-based organizations, individuals, or diaspora groups. Applicants must propose projects that align with the fund's mission of narrative change. 3. Funding: Grants are typically awarded to support storytelling, production, and capacity-building projects. The amount varies depending on the scale and scope of the proposal. 4. Impact Goals: Combat misinformation and stereot...

The Conscious Venture Lab Accelerator 2025, based at the Novella Center for Entrepreneurship, focuses on supporting mission-driven startups that integrate social impact into their business models. The program offers a hybrid 14-week curriculum emphasizing mentorship, funding connections, and stakeholder capitalism. Startups gain access to tools to scale their impact and prepare for Series A financing. To apply, Conscious Venture Lab Accelerator Application Portal . The process typically includes submitting a business profile and demonstrating alignment with the program's values. Impact of the Conscious Venture Lab Program: The program focuses on driving social change by supporting mission-driven startups. It provides critical resources such as mentorship, strategic advice, funding connections, and a structured 14-week curriculum to help startups achieve scalability and integrate stakeholder capitalism into their business models. Graduates typically experience stronger networks, imp...

The Spencer Foundation Vision Grants Program is designed to support transformative, ambitious, and collaborative educational research projects that address critical challenges in education. The program provides funding for early-stage, exploratory research ideas that have the potential to lead to larger, impactful projects. Key Features: Purpose: To support visionary research ideas that could transform the field of education. Funding Amount: Typically ranges from $75,000 to $350,000, depending on the scope and duration of the project. Eligibility: Open to individual researchers, collaborative teams, or institutions globally. Applicants must have a strong background in educational research. Focus Areas: Innovation in teaching and learning, equity and access in education, policy reform, and the use of technology in education. Timeline: Often supports projects lasting 1-2 years. Application Process: 1. Concept Submission: Applicants are typically required to submit a concept paper or lett...

The Innovations Against Poverty (IAP) Challenge Fund is a unique program designed to support inclusive businesses that aim to improve the lives of people living in poverty. The fund focuses on empowering innovative and scalable business solutions in developing countries that address social and environmental challenges. It is managed by international organizations such as SNV Netherlands Development Organisation and is often backed by donors like the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida). Key Objectives 1. Poverty Alleviation: Support businesses that create income opportunities and improve access to essential goods and services for people in poverty. 2. Sustainability: Encourage environmentally sustainable practices. 3. Scalability: Foster scalable business models that can reach more people and regions. 4. Inclusivity: Promote gender equality and the inclusion of marginalized groups. Focus Areas Agriculture: Enhancing food security, value chain development, and rur...

The WinFund Support for Women in AI is a part of the broader Women in Innovation Fund (WiNFUND), an initiative designed to empower women entrepreneurs tackling critical challenges in healthcare, including leveraging technologies like artificial intelligence (AI). Co-founded by Reckitt, the Health Innovation and Investment Exchange (HIEx), and supported by the Kofi Annan Foundation, the fund addresses significant disparities such as the lack of healthcare access for half the global population and the underrepresentation of women in venture capital funding (less than 2% globally). WinFund operates as a non-profit and supports women-led initiatives by providing direct investments, mentorship, and resources to scale innovative, homegrown solutions. The fund uses a unique model partially financed through sales of NFTs created by Rwandan artist Christella Bijou, alongside donations from partners and individuals. Entrepreneurs also gain access to a global community of supporters through invit...

Techstars offers several funding opportunities for startups through its accelerator programs and investment network. Here’s an overview:  1. Techstars Accelerator Programs    - Equity Investment: Startups selected for a Techstars accelerator receive an initial investment of $20,000 in exchange for 6% equity. Additionally, Techstars offers a $100,000 convertible note upon acceptance to the program.    - Access to Follow-on Funding: After the program, startups have the opportunity to raise additional funding through Techstars' extensive network of investors.    - Mentorship and Resources: Alongside funding, startups benefit from mentorship, access to a vast network of alumni, and resources that help accelerate growth. 2. Techstars Venture Capital Fund    - Techstars Ventures: This is the venture capital arm of Techstars that invests in startups beyond the accelerator stage. Techstars Ventures typically participates in seed and Series A rounds, ...