Apply Now: TTSWG Innovation Challenge Offers ₦9.5m Seed Funding
The Telecommunication and Technology Sustainability Working Group (TTSWG) has broadened the scope of its Innovation Makers Challenge (IMC) to five key sectors, while awarding a combined ₦9.5 million in seed funding to three female-led startups.
The development was announced at the second edition of the Innovation Makers Challenge Conference and Innovation Exhibition, held on September 24, 2026, at the Balmoral Convention Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos. The event brought together policymakers, investors, technology and telecommunications executives, development partners, financial institutions and emerging innovators.
The 2026 edition, held under the theme “Nurturing Innovation Ecosystems: Beyond Ideas to Real Impact,” expanded beyond the two sectors covered during the inaugural edition.
The challenge now focuses on health, agriculture, education, climate change and technology, reflecting TTSWG’s broader approach to supporting innovations that address social, economic and environmental challenges. TTSWG’s official event page also lists technology-enabled areas such as HealthTech, FinTech, AgriTech, ClimateTech, Artificial Intelligence, manufacturing and education among areas welcomed by the challenge.
A major highlight of the event was a live pitch competition featuring five female-led early-stage ventures.
The finalists were QiqiFarms, an AgriTech platform focused on farm produce offtake; Elcornel Business Enterprises Limited, which develops climate-friendly agricultural solutions; Anatsor Limited, a technology-based poultry farm management software provider; Agrovesto, an AgriTech venture developing an operating system for bankable and sustainable agriculture; and Blue Sands STEM Labs, a virtual laboratory education technology platform.
Agrovesto emerged as the top winner, receiving ₦6 million, while Blue Sands STEM Labs received ₦2 million as first runner-up. QiqiFarms, the second runner-up, received ₦1 million.
The combined funding is expected to help the winning startups strengthen their operations, develop their products and advance solutions addressing challenges across agriculture, education, climate and technology.
Speaking at the event, Dapo Otunla, Senior Vice President and Chief Corporate Services Officer at IHS Nigeria, described the initiative as a platform for closing the gap between infrastructure and innovation and between connectivity and the capacity to turn technology into practical solutions.
He said equipping entrepreneurs with knowledge and opportunities could help them build stronger businesses, create employment and generate value beyond their individual ventures.
Bankole Oloruntoba, Lead Consultant at the TTSWG Secretariat, said the expansion from two sectors to five reflects the need for a broader approach to sustainability.
According to him, technology alone cannot deliver sustainable development across the ecosystem, making collaboration between innovators, investors, policymakers and other stakeholders essential.
Beyond the pitch competition, the conference featured product exhibitions, panel discussions, fireside conversations and networking sessions, giving emerging innovators opportunities to showcase their solutions and connect with potential investors and industry leaders.
The TTSWG said the Innovation Makers Challenge is designed to help young innovators move beyond ideas by providing opportunities for collaboration, exposure, funding and connections that can support the development and commercialisation of viable solutions.
The latest edition therefore represents an expanded effort to build a more diverse innovation ecosystem in Nigeria, with emerging businesses working across multiple sectors now brought into the challenge’s sustainability and growth agenda.
