Business incubator Roar Nigeria plans to this year invest in 10 startups, with the first of those investments to come in the next three months, its director Charles Emembolu said yesterday.
“We expect (the) next investments within 90 days,” Emembolu said in an email to Ventueburn yesterday (10 April) without disclosing how much the incubator, which is based in Enugu, Nigeria, planned to invest.
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He said that the incubator has yet to make investments in any of the 13 startups it has so far supported and funded, but that the plan is to take 10% equity in those companies that the incubator’s team decides to invest in.
Roar Nigeria’s next investments will be concluded in coming three months, the incubator will take 10% equity in the startups selected
Founded in 2016 — by two university alumni Emembolu and Okechi Igwebuike alongside University of Nigeria vice-chancellor Benjamin Ozumba — Roar Nigeria aims to assist local tech startups “that can solve local problems”.
The 13 companies that the incubator currently incubates and has sourced funding for include: Thrillzapp, a company that has developed a digital event ticketing solution, edtech enterprise Jakomita, digital pharmacy Greenhills E-pharmaceuticals and nanny management solution RiteNanny.
The incubator — which is currently managed by Swedish serial entrepreneur Jonas Michanek and business writer Chinwe Okoli — provides startups with mentorship, office space and business support service like company registration.
“We offer an extensive startup programme designed and implemented in collaboration with the Ideon Science Park in Lund in Sweden — one of the first and most successful science parks in the world (those it has assisted include Ericsson, Qlik, Axis, Sony, Nokia, Tetra Pak and Alfa Laval),” Emembolu said.
Roar Nigeria also serves as a platform where the companies can interact with potential investors. Last month, Arone, a drone deliveries company being incubated at Roar Nigeria, raised $6000 from angel investors.
“We have only invested training and support in the existing teams. The investment in our incubated businesses have been by external investors,” Emembolu said, adding that one of these key investors, he said, includes Oilserve CEO Emeka Okwuosa.
The incubator is also funded by the private sector and in addition gets support in the form of facilities and personnel from the University of Nigeria.
