Denis Opudo
Lagos Innovates is an initiative developed by the Lagos state government and the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF). The project aims to give support to the tech startups within the city. The startup ecosystem in the country is set to financially benefit from the initiative. Techmoran lauds the initiative saying it will help in the growth of the startups. The program is available for all innovation-driven startups that are less than three years old and based in Lagos.
Lagos Innovates will help startups in getting access to high-quality workspaces and infrastructure education, early-stage investment capital and investor and peer networks. According to Lagos State Employment Trust Fund executive secretary, Akintunde Oyebode while addressing ThisDayLive Lagos he said that perhaps this is the most exciting startup ecosystem of any city in Africa. He added that if they get their model for innovation-driven enterprises right, Lagos State has the potential to exponentially increase opportunities and jobs for its residents in the medium – to long-term.
The current government is seen as the right one to execute on Lagos Innovates and lengthy promising ecosystem. Through Lagos Innovates, Governor Ambode is accomplishing his January 2017 promise to support the community in various ways. In August 2017, the Seedstars Lagos Competition served as the Nigerian leg of the global early-stage startups competition for emerging markets. The top 10 best startups were vying to be the representative from Nigeria for the final global event in 2018. The award was at long last won by E-health startup Medsaf.
Medsaf is focused on making the process of buying and selling medication in Nigeria’s complex health system easier and more efficient. Medsaf also provides value-added services to hospitals and pharmacies such as medications, inventory management applications, and tech-enabled logistics. Medsaf will now join other Seedstars country-winners at the final event in Switzerland in April 2018, where it will deliver a pitch that could potentially earn the company up to $1 million in equity investments and prizes.
