Founder Institute (FI), the world’s largest pre-seed accelerator programme, is collaborating with Sterling Bank PLC, Nigeria’s leading technologically advanced financial institution, to support early-stage startup founders in the H.E.A.R.T (Health, Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy, and Transportation) sectors that are looking to launch or scale their businesses.
In addition to the resources that Sterling Bank and Founder Institute will provide for startups, the partnership will also help startups become more innovative and disruptive while benefiting from Founder Institute’s globally tested corporate innovation programme.
Benefits
Through this partnership, accepted founders will:
- Receive scholarships (up to $1,000)
- Have the opportunity to pitch their ideas to top experts
- Receive support across important areas like tech infrastructure, market access, legal and regulatory compliance, etc.
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for the scholarship, applicants must:
- Be in the H.E.A.R.T (Health, Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy, and Transportation) sector
- Take the entrepreneurship DNA assessment
How to apply
Interested in taking your business to the next level? Apply here. The application deadline is June 30, 2022
About Founder Institute (FI)
Founded in 2009 by serial entrepreneur Adeo Ressi and Jonathan Greechan, Founder Institute is the world’s largest pre-seed startup accelerator with the most proven network to turn ideas into fundable startups and startups into global businesses.
The company’s mission is to empower entrepreneurs in the early stages of their startup journey to build purposeful businesses worldwide, believing that entrepreneurs are the greatest catalyst for positive change. FI empowers founders by providing a series of structured accelerators and access to the largest global community of startup advisors.
Since 2009, FI’s series of highly-structured accelerator programs have given founders the direction and global network needed to build meaningful businesses.
From ‘FI Core’ accelerator which pushes founders at the idea and pre-seed stages to reach the milestones needed for investment and sustained growth, to get free access to FI’s ‘Founder Lab’ accelerators and getting matched with prospective investors in the FI Venture Network which is a collection of global funds actively investing in the earliest rounds of funding. The possibilities with Founder Institute are just endless!
To date, FI has helped launch over 6,000 companies across 200+ cities and six continents, and its Alumni have raised over $800M and are worth an estimated $20B.
FI Lagos, which is an arm of the company, has helped launch approximately 100 startups (since the start of its first cohort in 2019) that are now gaining traction in the ecosystem.
Two of its portfolio companies (Zowasel and Betastore) were named as part of the FI global top 50 high-performing companies in 2021. Its portfolio also includes Rentit, Loystar, 9jakids, cast.i.ng, and SabiTeach.
About Sterling Bank
Sterling Bank Plc is a full-service national commercial bank in Nigeria. The bank prides itself in its purpose to ‘Enrich Lives’, which is strongly reflected in its overall business aspirations.
Sterling Bank operates with a three-pronged market focus. Its business lines and operations are structured around these segments; Retail and Consumer market, Commercial and Institutional market, and Corporate and Investment market.
With over 3,000 professional employees, Sterling Bank has a vision-led and values-driven experienced team with a track record of delivery. It has about 1,000,000 active customers and operates from 189 business offices, about 776 ATMs, and more than 3,000 POS terminals across Nigeria.
Sterling’s purpose of enriching lives is what drives it to support society and this is further proven by its positive contribution to the environment through several initiatives such as #STEM (Sterling Environmental Makeover), Meet The Executives, Get Ready For Work, Sketchamania, and several other interventions within other areas, especially Education.
