Cascador, an accelerator programme for mid-stage entrepreneurs in Africa scaling mission-driven companies, said its support to firms in Nigeria have helped small and medium enterprises to raise $23m growth funds in four years.
In a statement, Cascador’s Co-founder, Mr Dave DeLucia, disclosed this during its alumni dinner in Victoria Island, Lagos.
He said it made a tremendous impact in the lives of dozens of business owners in the last four years of its operations in Nigeria.
“Cascador’s intervention in Nigeria has touched 45 organisations and they have collectively raised over $23m in funds to grow and scale in different sectors of the economy,” he said.
DeLucia stated that Cascador was looking at doubling the number of beneficiaries and making more impact on the country’s economy in the next six years.
He said, “In the next four to six years, we should have at least 100 companies in our alumni portfolio, helping each of them raise funds, and improve their leadership and scale.
“At Cascador, we are solving these challenges by providing entrepreneurs access to world-class fundraising support and educating them on how to raise investment capital, so that they can take their businesses to the next level.
“In regard to leadership development, we give them assessment data and coaching to identify their strengths and then we help them build on that strength to develop an effective team.”
On business development skills, DeLucia said it closely examined its businesses and ran a diagnosis to see where it needed improvement, providing customised advisory support to grow businesses.
Speaking on its target organisations, Cascador Co-founder, Blessing Mene, said that the accelerator programme focused on organisations that had successfully raised capital, had strong annual revenues, and had a team of 10 or more employees in place who were ready to scale exponentially.
She said, “The type of entrepreneurs we cater to should have $50,000 in annual revenue or more. They typically have 10 to 50 employees, two to three years of operation and a strong desire to scale.”
Mene added that Cascador helped more seasoned entrepreneurs who were trying very hard to grow by 10 times and make a significant real-world impact.
According to Meme, “Business challenges and the requirements to be successful are universal. Success is about focusing on the customers, being clear about your value proposition and having sufficient resources to scale.
“It is much more difficult to grow a thriving company in Nigeria, but the passion for business ownership and the work ethic here are very strong.”
SOURCE: THE PUNCH
