Student Venture Capital Grant

The Student Venture Capital Grant supports Nigerian tertiary students who are building innovative businesses. Delivered by the Federal Ministry of Education and the National Skills Council, it combines competitive grant awards with mentoring and incubation, giving promising student ideas the backing they need to grow.

Grants awarded to student ventures

The programme's finalist bootcamp and awards event took place at the UNDP office in Ikoyi, Lagos, in March 2026. Student ventures went through a rigorous assessment before the successful businesses were announced and awarded grants.

The event brought together education and digital-economy leadership, development partners and enterprise-support institutions, reflecting a shared commitment to young Nigerian innovators.

Turning ideas into businesses

The grant encourages practical problem-solving and the development of scalable ventures. Support goes beyond funding to include the knowledge, guidance and tools students need to take a business from concept or prototype to the market.

This initiative complements university enterprise education, including the EIBIC programme, by giving market-ready ventures a competitive pathway to growth. It helps students become employers and innovators while they are still in school.

For Nigeria, the programme builds a generation of young entrepreneurs who create jobs and solve local problems. The March 2026 awards show the Tinubu administration investing directly in the ideas and talent of Nigerian students.