Women in Tech, Enrolling for Nigeria's First Women's Technology Accelerator Program Begins Now!

2017 was a record year for African start-ups. According to a study by Disrupt Africa, $ 195.1 million in venture capital funds were invested in start-ups in Africa compared to $ 129.1 million in 2016, an increase of 51%. With start-up investments of $ 63.3 million in 2017, Nigeria was the leading investment destination in Africa, followed by South Africa and Kenya. As Nigeria continues to emerge as a technological center, one thing is clear: women are missing on the ground. Of the 25% of women in technology, only 21% are technical managers and of these, only 11% are African technicians. Currently, more than half of world leaders report a shortage of technicians, which slows or prevents business growth. As Nigeria moves towards a technology-driven future at a high speed, a skilled and well-represented workforce will be essential to ensure continued economic growth in all sectors and industries. In addition to being underrepresented in the technological space, women are severely underfunded. In 2017, women-owned start-ups received only 2.2% of all venture capital funds available, although it was found that women-led start-ups produced a return on investment. equity higher than 30%

. GreenHouse Lab is a three-month accelerator focused solely on start-up startups in sub-Saharan Africa, as well as African start-ups in the United States or the United Kingdom with products that are evolving on African markets. The application portal for the 2018 Cohort opens Monday, July 2, 2018 at www.greenhouse.capital/greenhouselab and ends on Friday, July 20th.

GreenHouse Lab is run by GreenHouse Capital an Investment Venture Garden Group (VGG) – a leading provider of innovative, data-driven technology platforms to solve the real societal challenges in the areas of impact essential to sustainable economic development. As one of Africa's leading technology-driven venture capitalists, GreenHouse Capital is ideally positioned to offer its expertise, a strong network of investors and mentors, and resources to grow companies. solid. Over the last three years, GreenHouse has invested in 15 companies and together they raised $ 40 million in capital.

According to Tosin Durotoye director of GreenHouse Lab, "Without women at the technological table We will fail to harness the vast brains and innovation opportunities needed to propel Nigeria and Africa." Africa as a whole, towards the front Our mission at GreenHouse Lab is to level the playing field by providing fast-growing, women-led technology start-ups with investments and infrastructure $ 250k support and provide exceptional teams with the network of resources and mentors they have The GreenHouse Lab offers an intensive, in-person, virtual-based curriculum and leverages the educational frameworks at the same time. Existing entrepreneurship focused on a variety of key topics, including but not limited to: product development, market segmentation, human capital, marketing and fundraising Other channels of engagement include weekly presentations, lectures and office hours with Residence Contractors (EIR).

The program is residential and will be hosted at Vibranium Valley – VGG's technology campus in Lagos. The accelerator ends with a demonstration day where companies can present their business to an extensive network of local and international investors. As a venture capital firm with a portfolio of companies, GreenHouse Capital will also invest a minimum of US $ 100,000 in companies that will qualify and achieve specific objectives at the end of the program.

GreenHouse Lab is looking for companies with the right team to succeed Business and as such, will select startups who are extremely pbadionate about their chosen vertical and will demonstrate the commitment needed to build the business of their dreams. Each start-up must have at least one woman in its management team which must be composed of at least two members and at least one technical member. Beyond that, eligible companies must be early-stage, investment-ready startups that have identified a critical need in Africa and are building an effective, sustainable and scalable solution. Each company must have developed, at a minimum, a beta product and be refining its marketing strategy, establishing sales channels and generating revenue.

The three-month accelerator starts in mid-August and ends in mid-November. The selected new companies will have to engage full time in the program.

Interested candidates can apply here Monday, July 2nd. The deadline for registration is Friday, July 20th.

For more information, contact GreenHouse Lab at [email protected] or click here.

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