May 2018

The Spark | Ignite/Connect/Achieve
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Co-Creation Hub vs
Wennovation Hub
The challenges of starting an enterprise especially in an emerging economy like Nigeria have stopped
many young businesses from starting or scaling even when they do. The rise of incubation hubs and
business accelerators like the two we review in this edition is playing a key role in encouraging the social
enterprise community.
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What Next?
- By Damilola Oyewusi
Social entrepreneurs face a myriad of challenges much like traditional
entrepreneurs that include poor access to capital, business knowledge
gaps and building the right network. The thoughts of the amount of
money and work required often stop young people at the ideation stage,
cutting short the life of a potential life-changing business.
Incubation hubs across the country have been instrumental to the
necessary proliferation of social entrepreneurship in the country. Beyond
seed funding and access to investors, they provide mentorship, a strong
network of business partners and an enabling environment to support
innovation and entrepreneurship to solve socio-economic problems.
Being a part of an incubation hub helps a start-up avoid some pitfalls that
could easily kill new businesses.
Co-Creation Hub
With success stories like BudgIT, Wecyclers, and Mamalette, Co-creation
Hub, popularly known as CcHUB has affirmed itself as a dependable and
financially sustainable innovation hub. From governance to lifestyle,
health and the environment, the hub provides support and funding to
young entrepreneurs with socially conscious ideas.
From the Pitch-Drive to the Early Stage Venture Support and Growth
Capital Fund, their programmes are strategically developed to serve
entrepreneurs at different stages of their business journey. Working with
Google, MacArthur Foundation, Bank of Industry, Facebook, The Tony
Elumelu Foundation and several others, the company is able to make
scarce resources and priced knowledge readily available to hundreds of
aspiring entrepreneurs that use their facility or sign up for their incubation
programs.
The hub also provides learning opportunities for children with its
education-focused projects such as Re:Learn, the Go-Ga project, the
Educator Network and more, giving them early exposure to technology
and enhancing learning environments across the schools they have a
presence in.
The company also offers innovation consulting services to organizations,
working with them to create programs that further mutually beneficial
causes.
Entrepreneurs can access their free co-working space in Lagos, christened
‘The 6th Floor’ by earning bounty points for participating in communitygenerated
challenges or get an office space for as little as N2000 per day.
Wennovation Hub
The Wennovation Hub has a mission to foster innovation among youths in
Nigeria, building its programmes around incubation, building an
innovation ecosystem and offering business consultation services. The
company offers co-working spaces in Lagos, Ibadan, Abuja and Kaduna,
giving young people easy and affordable access to resources like the
internet, an office space and like-minded creative people.
Using a competition model, the hub receives applications for support and
takes the most promising through training programs and design
workshops during the Incubation program. Through its Acceleration
program, the company has supported over 300 startups in their early
stages with funding raised by startups within their founders’ network.
They also offer consultation services from ideas validation to business
strategy based on research and years of experience.
Interested entrepreneurs can gain access to the hubs in Lagos and Ibadan
on a daily plan with N1500.
Both companies are tech-oriented and part of the community now
referred to as Yabacon Valley, leveraging the potential of technology for
exponential growth and scalability. They also encourage collaboration
and creative exchange of ideas with co-working spaces. Innovation hubs
like these are springing up across the country and budding entrepreneurs
have a chance to accelerate their businesses with their facilities and
services.
“
Being a part of an incubation
hub helps a start-up avoid
some pitfalls that could easily
kill new businesses.
“
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