Nigerian tech and innovation space Co-Creation Hub (CcHub) has launched the CcHub Diaspora Challenge, offering incubation and up to US$265,000 investment to UK-based African entrepreneurs.
The CcHub Diaspora Challenge aims to be an international project, engaging entrepreneurs, innovators and scientists from African communities in the UK, in a bid to source scalable business solutions to social challenges in Africa.
The challenge seeks early stage startups across three categories: financial technology, energy, and education.
Two startups will be selected in each category, to receive nine months virtual incubation, as well as US$15,000 prototype funding from CcHub.
Ventures able to demonstrate sustainability and innovation will then be able to access a further US$250,000 seed investment from Growth Capital.
We have long wanted to build stronger tech community connections between the UK and Africa in order to increase diaspora community involvement. CcHub is a social innovation hub – we innovate and build to address social problems, and we want to facilitate development-focused dialogues and attract the best talent to help us in our mission,” says Bosun Tijani, CcHub co-founder and chief executive officer (CEO).
“The CcHub Diaspora Challenge is the starting pistol to engaging, mentoring, incubating and investing in Africans in the UK who can help ‘build Africa’ alongside us.”
The challenge aims to address the “brain drain” of African professionals moving to the West; which Tijani says is “one of the greatest obstacles to African development”. CcHub hopes to alleviate the consequences of this “brain drain”, by leveraging the skills and networks of diaspora entrepreneurs.
Applications are open here, until June 30.
