88mph seed fund expands accelerator programme to Nigeria this February

In an attempt to further bolster West African tech startups, seed fund and accelerator 88mph will open up shop in Lagos, Nigeria in February.

88mph traditionally looks for early-stage companies with a mobile-web focus, especially those that serve local markets in Africa and have potential for global expansion. Previous programmes have offered up to US$100 000 funding as well as mentorship and three months of office space.

Manager at 88mph, Sylvia Brune, told HumanIPO, “In mid-February 2014 we will be in Lagos and we are very excited. We will start to renovate the tech space, meet more investors, interesting startups, and finalise partnership deals.”

So far, the 88mph seed fund has invested over US$2-million in popular South African startups such as Peach Payments, Wabona and ZapaCab as well as Mpepea and Gamesole from its Kenyan programme.

The startup accelerator has already been responsible for exciting programmes in both Nairobi and Cape Town the last few years and is starting its second programme in South Africa 3 February.

88mph is a partner with Google for Entrepreneurs, and provides not just funding but access to a network of fellow founders, investors and corporate partners in exchange for an equity stake.

We’ve taken a look at what the West African landscape has to offer startups before, and the environment is definitely brewing with potential and exciting ventures such as ecommerce startups Konga and Jumia.