Winners Emerge at All On Hub-sponsored Incubation Programme

Mary Nnah

The 2021 winners of the annual Nigeria Climate Innovation Center (NCIC) Embryo Incubation Programme (EIP), sponsored by the All On Hub have emerged.

The winners, who were announced on Monday, after a Demo Day pitch event held in Ajah, Lagos, include Dalsman Tech, D’Suon Limited, SiriusX Energy, Think Electric, Vectar Energy, WakaGen, YOWIF and Zimaj Craft Enterprise.

Twenty clean energy start-ups, from over 400 original applications successfully completed a 6-month incubation programme run by the NCIC.

All On, an off-grid energy impact investment firm funded and supported the programme via its technical support facility, the Rockefeller Foundation, which funded All On Hub.

CEO of NCIC, Bankole Oloruntoba, affirmed that the businesses have gotten more tangible over the years with more market-ready products and teams, adding that this has been made possible with the All On partnership, which has been a strong backbone for NCIC’s incubation success.

“This year we are adding another eight ventures to our grantees list which makes 16 early-stage ventures granted $10,000. We are pleased to support the investment pipeline currently building up in the emerging Nigeria Green Economy.”

The ventures presented their ideas during the Pitch Day event held at the Pan Atlantic University to a diverse experienced panel of judges.

According to one of the judges, Kunle Odebunmi, CEO of AllBase Energy, “Almost all the participants had innovative solutions and ideas that would radicalise Nigeria’s green economy. I’m very proud of what NCIC with All On’s support has achieved with the Embryo Incubation finalists. They are all winners in their own right.”

The participants received training and support in a variety of areas aimed at developing their business knowledge and commercial skills including strategy and planning, product development, regulatory environment, marketing, finance and fund-raising.

Believe Obafaiye, founder of YOWIF (Young Women in Farming) and one of the $10,000 grant winners, commended the EIP for the breadth of its support. “We look forward to achieving positive impact and our desired goals towards organizational improvement,” she added.

All On Hub Manager, Sele Inegbedion commended this year’s cohort of entrepreneurs, adding that, “These emerging ventures have demonstrated the commitment and enterprise needed to succeed over time, and scale innovations that will extend the delivery of electrification to unserved communities and ultimately, improve livelihoods and local economies.”

The members of the 2021 cohort were: Dalsman Tech, Darlton Consult, Bebeque Limited, D’Suon Limited, Artec-hubs, DiamundGates Ltd, Trekk Scooters, SiriusX Energy, Susten Solutions, Aglobe Development Center, Drift Power, ArleeGreen Renewables, Vdverts, Think Electric Africa, WakaGen, Zimaj Craft Enterprise, Iyfarm, Vectar Energy, Lanray Technical Solutions, and YOWIF.

Innovation ideas from this year’s cohort include solar-powered cook stove kiosks, cold storage facilities, e-mobility, energy efficiency technologies, biogas production and systems built on IoT technology.

All On, an independent impact investing company, was seeded with funding from Shell, and works with partners like NCIC to increase access to commercial energy products and services for unserved and underserved off-grid energy markets in Nigeria, with a special focus on the Niger Delta.