Guide to Lagos and Accra tech hubs
The Lagos and Accra tech scenes are buzzing with young, creative business- and tech-savvy minds. Their tech hubs provide innovative spaces and nurturing environments, enabling members to collaborate, innovate and build.
Lagos’s mainland suburb of Yaba provides a perfect location for the Lagos tech scene – it’s on the mainland so rents are relatively (!) cheap, but not too far from Island, and in close proximity to University of Lagos and the Yaba College of Technology. Within that region and beyond are a number of tech hubs, incubators and “companies building companies” paving the way for the rise of the Nigerian tech scene.
CoCreation Hub
What they say: CcHUB is Nigeria’s first open living lab and pre-incubation space designed to be a multi-functional, multi-purpose space where work to catalyze creative social tech ventures take place. The HUB is a place for technologists, social entrepreneurs, government, tech companies, impact investors and hackers in and around Lagos to co-create new solutions to the many social problems in Nigeria.
Location: 6th Floor, 294 Herbert Macaulay Way, Sabo, Yaba, Lagos
IdeaHub
What they say: iDEA (Information Technology Developers Entrepreneurship Accelerator) provides essential support to entrepreneurs to build software skills, solutions and businesses critical to their success. Entrepreneurs accepted into iDEA Centres receive support in the way of physical work space, shared facilities, training, mentoring and access to capital.
Location: 296 Herbert Macaulay Way, Sabo, Yaba, Lagos
Spark
What they say: We are not a fund and we are not an incubator; we are a company that builds companies. We focus on Lagos, Nigeria as the gateway to Africa. We focus on well-defined and scalable revenue models. We are a collection of internet people.
Location: Adebayo Mokuolu Street Anthony Village
440 NG
What they say: 440 is a JV between 88mph and L5Lab. We provide startups with between $20k-110k investment for 10-25% equity in their businesses. See investment terms here.
We invest in startups that target the African markets and are scalable via web/mobile. We accept up to 10 startups per program who will spend 3 months with us, refining their products, business models, and go-to-market.
Leadpath
What they say: LeadPath Nigeria is a seed capital fund that specialises in providing short, medium and long term funding to small and medium sized start-up businesses in high growth technology areas such as software, web and mobile technologies.
At LeadPath, our mission is to power legendary companies in Africa by bridging the gap between start-up to market dominance. Hence, we work with only technology entrepreneurs who have an irrevocable appetite for achieving the extraordinary.
Location: 70 Olonode Street, off Hughes Avenue, Alagomeji, Yaba, Lagos
Passion Incubator
What they say: Passion Incubator provides innovative Start-up entrepreneurs with the most critical resources to launch lean Start-ups that can grow fast and where success can be quickly institutionalized. We provide critical business model, product development and fund raising support to help turn your dreams to reality
Location: 34, Mcnell Rd, off Montgomery Rd, Yaba, Lagos
Just an hour flight away, Nigeria’s cousins over in Accra are also making waves.
Hub Accra
What they say: Coworking, Innovation and Entrepreneurship. Hub Accra is the center of an exciting and growing startup ecosystem in rising Ghana. Located in one of Africa’s most stable political systems and fastest growing economies, Hub Accra offers everything needed for dynamic startups to grow and scale.
Location: Klannaa St, Accra, Ghana
MEST
What they say: The Meltwater Entrepreneurial School of Technology (MEST) and the MEST Incubator program provide training, investment and mentoring for aspiring technology entrepreneurs with the goal of creating globally successful companies that create wealth and jobs locally in Africa.
iSpace
What they say: iSpace is a unique environment where technology startups can start up faster. We nurture a local network of like-minded and focused tech entrepreneurs, providing space for them to work, meet, collaborate, learn and have fun. By getting the right people together in a physical space, good things happen.
Location: Anumansa St, Accra, Ghana
Movemeback is a members-only community, connecting overseas talent and partners to unique, exclusive and exciting high potential opportunities on the African continent. We focus on distinctive and non-cliché opportunities from senior leadership roles with Africa’s most influential organisations through to unique investments, creative and entrepreneurial partnerships, nation shaping, social impact and more. We’re structured to enable talent relocation – including internships, secondments or remote engagements – and the facilitation of investment and advisory relationships.
[…] as organizations that follow a different path.[1] I’ll show that, even though the terms are often lumped together, hubs and incubators actually work according to very different […]
[…] and accelerators like 440.NG, The Tony Elumelu Foundation Accelerator, the Passion Incubator and many others are on hand to help aspiring entrepreneurs build promising […]
[…] as organizations that follow a different path.[1] I’ll show that, even though the terms are often lumped together, hubs and incubators actually work according to very different […]