No fewer than 100 investors and entrepreneurs from the United Kingdom, as well as captains of industries, will on Monday converge in Nigeria to harness and connect socio-economically impactful ideas to global funding.
The high-powered event will also include a virtual panel session of early-stage investors whom will be connecting live from the United Kingdom.
Speaking exclusively with this correspondent on Saturday in Lagos, the duo of Lucas Jacobelli and Morgane Bascle of OxFounders Global, a nonprofit organisation, expressed their excitement about the vast opportunities available on the African continent, promising to connect impactful African startup ideas to global opportunities.
“We are glad to be in Nigeria to launch our project in Africa. I am Morgane. We founded OxFounders Global, a nonprofit organisation together, and it has been an insightful journey to be in Africa and start off in Nigeria.
“On Monday, OxFounders is looking forward to hosting Obi Asika, Director-General of the National Centre for Arts and Culture; Charles Emembolu, Chairman of the Board of ISN; Ireayo Oladunjoye, CEO of Endeavor Nigeria; Nkem Begho, CEO of Futuresoft; and many others.”
According to Lucas, “OxFounders started as a project in the student society at the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom, where we used it to create an entrepreneurship community for funders, investors, and alumni. The idea is still ongoing at Oxford University.
“After graduating from Oxford and becoming alumni ourselves, we decided to make the project bigger and turn it into a non-governmental organization. Now, OxFounders International aims to go across the world and connect exceptional early-stage founders with a network of opportunities and resources in Oxford and also in the United Kingdom.”
The alumnus, who were majorly historian scholars from Oxford University, emphasised that the start-up idea project has been implemented in six other countries of the world, including the United Kingdom.
They highlighted the countries including; India, Brazil, Mexico, Turkey, Kazakhstan, and Uzbekistan.
“We are so happy to be in Nigeria and launch our project in Africa, with follow-ups in Nairobi, Kenya, and Cape Town.
“We have had amazing conversations with funders and investors, and we can’t wait to get the event started,” he noted.
Speaking further and highlighting the rationale behind the non-profit organization’s voyage of discovery to Africa, Morgane Bascle, a co-founder of the Oxfonders, said that there are many exceptional opportunities on the continent, with not less than 70 percent of the African population being under the age of 30.
This demographic, Morgane said has been very dynamic and exhibits an entrepreneurial spirit, which is essential for growth and expansion of the africa continent.
“It’s been an incredible and exciting opportunity. I think Nigeria is the place to be, and starting off in Lagos was a natural choice given the population and the understanding of the fact that so much is happening. We are just happy to be part of it.”
While commenting on the gender ratio among the startups that will be pitching later on Monday, November 11, 2024, Morgane observed that the startup innovators and founders tend to tilt toward the male gender.
She, meanwhile, affirmed Nigeria as a country that has shown greater gender balance among founders and investors, with many women being very active in the ecosystem.
