Cascador, a ground-breaking program helping mid-stage African entrepreneurs grow their businesses and improve their leadership skills by working with successful American and Nigerian entrepreneurs, has announced the 2022 application opening for Nigerian entrepreneurs.
Cascador, launched in 2019 and now in its third year, will host 10 entrepreneurs at the Lagos Business School from October 31st – November 4th 2022 while the application deadline for interested participants is slated for July 1st 2022.
The Cascador program has elevated two successful cohorts of entrepreneurs and their companies through a unique blend of education, mentoring, pitch training and personalized support.
Commenting on the initiative, A US-based biotech entrepreneur, Cascador Co-Founder and CEO of Immunext, Dave DeLucia, noted that “Cascador was founded to fill a notable gap in the accelerator space between start-up-oriented programs and accelerators for more mature businesses that extend capital and take equity upon acceptance.
“Every Cascador faculty member and mentor is driven to help African entrepreneurs succeed by leveraging our years of experience and knowledge base. Many of our fellows have participated in early-stage accelerators and use Cascador as a springboard to fast-track organic business growth or to prepare for global accelerators like YC, Harambe and TechStars. It really meets a unique need.”
“Preliminary coaching in business fundamentals precedes an intensive week of in-person training, sharing and practice. After the live program at Lagos Business School from November, 1st through 5th, we follow up with 6 months of post-program mentoring and quarterly group learning sessions. It’s a formula designed to turbo-charge small businesses and make a powerful impact on their leaders personally,” he noted.
Explaining the focus of Cascador and how it differs from traditional startup accelerators in Africa, Cascador Faculty and former Managing Director of GlaxoSmithKline Nigeria, Chidi Okoro, noted that “We consciously target mid-stage entrepreneurs who have a track record of
sales and fundraising. This subset of business owners is often neglected in the landscape of support programs and tools, yet they have proven ability to rapidly scale, and the potential to transform the economy of Nigeria – and beyond”. Commenting on the initiative, The Dean at Lagos Business School (LBS), Dr. Chris Ogbechie noted that “this is the third year that LBS will host the Cascador program on campus, and partnering with Cascador aligns with our philosophy as an academic institution.