The Federal Ministry of Youth Development (FMYD), through the Nigerian Youth Academy (NiYA), and Cascador have announced the winners of the NiYA and Cascador Founders Programme Pitch Day, awarding non-dilutive funding — capital that does not require founders to give up equity — to 17 Nigerian startups: eight founders will receive ₦5 million each, while nine will receive ₦1 million each, to support the growth of their businesses.

Applications for the joint accelerator pilot opened on International Youth Day in August and drew more than 19,000 young entrepreneurs, of whom only 17 were selected. On Tuesday in Abuja, the four-week pilot culminated in a Pitch Day that placed ₦49 million in non-dilutive funding directly onto the balance sheets of those 17 startups. The eight top-performing founders received up to ₦5 million each, and the remaining nine cohort members secured ₦1 million apiece to fund operations, build investment-ready businesses, and access further funding.

Rather than following the pattern of typical state-run empowerment schemes that distribute cash with limited operational follow-through, NiYA and Cascador built the pilot around strengthening the operational fundamentals that commonly undermine young Nigerian businesses. Before pitching for capital, the founders spent four weeks working on their sales pipelines, customer service, and accounting infrastructure.

Sapphital Limited, the ministry's technical partner, managed the cohort's application and assessment infrastructure and onboarded all 17 businesses onto SMECore, its proprietary Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) software. Every participant will retain access to the ERP tool after the programme — a deliberate measure intended to ensure grant funds are tracked and deployed with proper corporate governance.

The accelerator also created an unusual direct channel between early-stage founders and the regulators that often slow them down. Over the four weeks, the cohort took part in technical sessions and field days with nine major state agencies, including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Nigeria Data Protection Commission (NDPC), NITDA, and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC). For startups operating in heavily scrutinised sectors such as food processing, clean energy, and cold-chain logistics, direct compliance guidance from regulators may prove as valuable as the funding itself.

Kabir Olaosebikan, founder of plastic waste startup Craft Planet and one of the beneficiaries, commented on the programme: “This programme will prove to be a defining step in our growth story, giving us the business foundations and confidence to pursue our ambitions. With the funding and ERP platform, we now have the means to put what we've learned into action.”

The 17 grantees come from 13 states across all six geopolitical zones and offer solutions in agriculture, waste management, and hardware.

The eight founders receiving ₦5 million each are:

• Andrew Ogbeh (SewPro)
• Patrick Ifeanyi Chukwu (Biuda)
• Ameedat Eniola Olaniyan (Sparklean Station Nigeria Limited)
• Favour Ngozi Nnadi (Backel Food Services Limited)
• Khuzaifa Aminu (Shellify)
• Ayisat Adama Adamu (Rèkool Access Technology)
• Godslove Emmanuel Asuquo (Agrosavvy Consult)
• Kabir Olaosebikan (Craft Planet)

The nine founders receiving ₦1 million in growth capital are:

• Aisha Bello Marafa (Eeshas Cake and Foods Limited)
• Zainab Abike Kadiri-Lawal (Zannytecture Recycling Company Ltd)
• Moses Onyema Nweke (UpSmart Energies)
• Evander Ikechukwu Ofomah (ParaLearn / Parakletus Hub Nigeria)
• Victoria Okor (Drych Digital Limited)
• Ibrahim Isah Liman (Agro-Chill Solutions)
• Solomon Tolulope Adedini (Sol-Uniq Green Resources)
• Bridget Shidoon Idyu (Bidvans Limited)
• Adam Umaru (TrashGo)

For the Youth Ministry, the pitch event serves as proof of concept for a much larger political mandate. Speaking on the outcome, Youth Development Minister Ayodele Olawande linked the partnership to President Bola Tinubu's economic agenda, noting that NiYA is using private-sector collaborations to bridge the gap between basic skills training and actual enterprise funding. All 17 founders will retain NiYA alumni status, with priority access to future state opportunities.

For Cascador, which traditionally focuses on growth-stage companies and deploys up to $5 million annually in debt and equity through its Catalytic Fund, the pilot marks a strategic reach further downstream into Nigeria's early-stage pipeline.

“We share NiYA and FMYD's commitment to giving Nigeria's ambitious young founders the capital and practical support they need to build stronger businesses,” said Cascador CEO Trish Thomas. “Seeing eight deserving founders secure funding at Pitch Day is an encouraging outcome for the pilot.”

Still, the numbers remain stark. While the 17 funded startups now have the runway and software to scale, the more than 19,000 unsuccessful applications underscore the enormous pressure on NiYA as it pursues its stated goal of training and empowering 7 million Nigerian youth within two years. Whether the pilot's blend of non-dilutive capital, ERP-backed fund tracking, and direct regulator access can be extended to more of that pipeline is one of the key things to watch as the programme moves beyond its first cohort.