Unreasonable Lab launches in Nigeria, To Prepare Startups For Investment

Unreasonable Ambition: How a movement of entrepreneurship training programs seeks to put a dent on poverty

Boulder, CO –On 6th of June to 10th of June 2016, 25 startups from across Nigeria will gather in Lagos for 5 days, alongside top investors and business mentors for Unreasonable Lab Nigeria, a five-day intensive training program preparing them to raise capital, replete with seasoned entrepreneurs and investors from across Nigeria serving as mentors.

Asked why they wanted to bring Unreasonable Labs to their country, Unreasonable Labs Nigeria’s founding team Olufemi Omotayo, Tito Philips, Jnr. and Michael Olorunninwo said: 

“For the first time in history, we have adopted a market economy. Our ongoing development cannot continue through aid and donation. There’s no other way to address our challenges but through entrepreneurship, innovation, and private sector. And Unreasonable Labs might be the best avenue to addressing these needs.”

“It’s amazing to see entrepreneurs creating companies that can really help a lot of people,” explains Teju Ravilochan, co-founder and CEO of Unreasonable Institute. Unreasonable Institute boasts successful alumni, including:

• Mosaic, the “solar bank” that started as an idea at Unreasonable Institute and now is the largest lender for home solar projects in the United States.
• Eneza, the fastest growing mobile education app in Africa, equipping 650,000 students in Kenya to gain access to tutoring and test prep on $10 phones.
• MANA Nutrition, which has cured over one million kids of severe acute malnutrition through a nutrient-enriched peanut butter.

The results are striking. 93% of the 150 startups in Unreasonable Institute’s portfolio have raised funding totaling over $100 million. And all together, those companies are benefitting 8 million lives.

But to Ravilochan and his team, it wasn’t enough. “We started Unreasonable Institute because we thought the best way to address billion-person problems was by helping entrepreneurs find solutions,” he explains. “But to have any chance of doing that, we need to find thousands of entrepreneurs and get them the people and resources they need to grow.”

Ravilochan noted Unreasonable Institute had one key barrier to scale. “Our model is high touch,” he explains. “Mentors spend a lot of time with our entrepreneurs.” Mentors (experienced business and social/environmental change leaders) each pick one company to work with for 6-12 months. “And we carefully match them based on diagnosing our entrepreneur’s needs and understanding the mentor’s skills.”

“Entrepreneurs get a lot of attention from mentors who come through the program. That’s what makes Unreasonable Institute so valuable for them.” says Ravilochan. “So we weren’t going to be able to maintain the quality of our support and work with a whole lot more entrepreneurs. So we figured, hey, what if we could just teach other people to do what we do?”

Enter Unreasonable Labs. “We packaged up our curriculum and built a way to train teams we think could do what we do,” says Banks Benitez, Vice President of Global Expansion at Unreasonable Institute. “The local teams that we find in new countries to run Labs can then recruit locally-based mentors and funders to support the startups they find.”

In 2015-2016, Unreasonable Institute has equipped 25 Labs in the locations below:






For more information about the #UnreasonableNaija event, kindly visit: www.unreasonableinstitute.org/accelerator/nigeria-2016/

Nigeria Contact:
Email: UnreasonableNG@gmail.com
Phone +234 817 672 8769
Twitter: @UnreasonableNG
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/UnreasonableNG/

ITS TYME Application - Junior achievement and Southern Business Academy

The Junior Achievement (JA) in conjunction with the southern business Academy in Nigeria is currently recruiting interested candidates to register for the following courses;

• Electrical Wiring & Technology (with Solar Panel/Inverter Installation)
•  Catering & Hotel management
• Photography & Video Coverage
• Painting & Paint making
• Building Technology
• Make-up, Gele tying, Beautifying
• Hairstyling
• Barbing
• Bead-making

DEADLINE

April 25th, 2016

This opportunity will train you to understand the core concepts in theory and demonstrated practices to make fantastic use of lessons learned and hence, build the confidence to transform this vocation into a meaningful and potentially rewarding career.

The program comes with essential resource materials that will inspire you to keep going.

You will also get opportunities to interact with notable professionals and participate in live projects, exhibitions and excursions.

ELIGIBILITY

Interested candidates must be willing to take trainings and demonstrate basic integrity and discipline. We require Nigerians who are willing to become agents of driving social development to the society.

Finally, candidates must be at least 18 years and not more than 25 years old by the time of application, and should demonstrate the ability to listen and understand Basic English.

Interviews begin on 20th of April, 2016

COST

Cost of training is FREE

To register, please download form at http://www.sbang.org/website-admissions/

Completed forms must be returned on or before 25th April, 2016

For more information, please call +234 803 480 1307, +234 806 139 7828, or visit www.sbang.org



You may also mail us at info@sbang.org

ABARI Bamboo sunglasses - Abari Abdulhamid Damilola #inthespiritofenterprise

Who would have thought, all that bamboo growing all over our land could be used to create really cool stuff. A few weeks back I read a feature on digest.bellafricana.com about a Ghanian lady who makes bicycles with bamboo and I was wowed.

Fast forward a few days and voila, bamboo again, but this time by a Nigerian making the coolest sunshades ever! You have got to read about him, and I agree with him, "Obe to dun, owo lo pa". Read the main story to find the translation ... lol

Enjoy.


Tell us about yourself

My name is Abari Abdulhamid Damilola, 27 year old (6th March 1989), from Lagos State, Nigeria. I am the first son and child of my Parent, and I have 3siblings. I am a graduate of Igbinedion University Okada, where I majored in Mechanical Engineering and I am currently pursing my MSc in Process Safety and Loss Prevention from University of Sheffield, UK.

I’m a typical Lagosian, born to hustle (legit), Engineering is my first love before I found business as my side chick, both of which complement each other, “Production and Management wise”, I am very versatile in my thinking and always wanting to solve problems, while I’m doing that I try to increase my source of income to become financially independent.

My Life philosophy : No body gets lucky unless they take the opportunities that come their way.

Tell us about your business

Business Name: ABARI Bamboo sunglasses

Started : January 2016

Why: Alternative to plastic sunglasses whose durability is not compared to Bamboo frame sunglasses

Information About the frames

THE FRAMES MODEL

CREAMIE MODEL
The Creamie model are made from ecological bamboo which is the original colour of the bamboo. This sunglasses are eco-friendly, water resistant, that float on water and Non-slippery when sweating unlike the plastic frame glasses.

They come with Wayfarer style, TAC polarized lenses providing full sun protection for your eyes from UV rays and strengthened flex-steel hinges.

COFFEE BROWN MODEL
Coffee model bamboo sunglasses are eco-friendly, look awesome, and they float on water. non-slippery when sweating and more reliable than the plastic frames.
They come in a Wayfarer style shape and suits most face notwithstanding the size of face

ACCESSORIES
Each pair comes in a hard bamboo case with a silk lens cloth, silk bag and a little gift.

LENSES
TAC (Tri Acetate Cellulose) polarized lenses offer superior visual and polarization clarity. They are hard coated to resist scratching and block out 100% of all harmful UV rays up to 400 nanometers, and are also lightweight and highly impact resistant.

LENS COLOURS
Available in Blue and Green, black other colours are coming out soon

What was your inspiration for starting this business?

I wanted to stand out from the crowd...as far as nigeria is concerned, I think I am one of the first to venture in this line...I have seen a few people also in the field of sunglasses but not with bamboo frames.

How did you get funding for your business?

Basically its been from my pocket, my savings from my previous jobs

What opportunities have you been able to leverage on in your business so far?

None yet as I have been running on my on resources, also the fact I am not presently in Nigeria as I am doing my Masters degree abroad.

What Challenges have you faced so far and how have you been able to overcome them?

Convincing people that the prize justifies the product...people expect me to sell as the same rate as the once on the street but as the adage goes

...a pot of soup that is sweet..the money involved is what "killed" it.

I am of the opinion if you can afford to buy a fake at 7000 naira then buying an original at 10000 naira is not too wide for a range.

How will you summarize the journey so far?

Challenging...mixing studies and business is two tasking but i'm still young and have got the ability to multitask.

Given the Chance, will you do this again?

Over and over again, infact I should have started earlier before the fake sunglasses flooded the market, with people thinking they are wearing the real deal... An average RayBan cost between $100-300 and what is sold in Nigeria is less than $5...

What lessons have you been able to learn from your journey so far that others should know.

When you try to solve a problem you can create a business out of it.

Everybody wants to wear sunglasses but people don't know the consequence of wearing a FAKE lens which is what is rampant in Nigeria.

Abari Sunglasses has a C.E and the lens are certified to protect from UV rays that has the potential to destroy human sights.

How can people connect with you

Contact details
Email: abaritm@yahoo.com
Instagram: @abaritm
Twitter:@abaritm

FoodConvee - Tele Ogundipe #inthespiritofenterprise

Once in a while, you just want to be treated to a good meal of "swallow" as we like to call it, paired with a correct Nigerian soup that has all the different types of meat and some snails. I know we are all claiming "fitfam" these days, but hey no harm in a good home cooked Nigerian meal. The challenge many of us have though is the time! Oh la la. Boy does it take time to put the soups together. Even tougher sometimes is getting the seasoning mix right, so you don't end up eating bland food or over seasoned food.

Our feature today is a woman who saw these challenges and decided to tackle them head on. In 15minutes or less you can have your Egusi or Ogbono ready to eat by just adding water and Palm Oil! How cool is that? Let's meet her...

Enjoy!

Tell us about yourself

My name is Tele Ogundipe. I have a Bachelors degree in Agriculture from Obafemi Awolowo university, Ile ife. I also have an MBA from Esut Business School. I have attended the School of entrepreneurship, (Edc) Pan Atlantic university.

Life is neither a tempest nor is it a midnight summer's dream. Every disappointment is a blessing in disguise.

Tell us about your business

Foodconvee is into the Processing of local food items for easy cooking with no preservatives.

What was your inspiration for starting this business?
Several reasons.
I observed that these days cooking is quite a chore due to hectic work life . Hence the resort to Asian easy to prepare and tasty Noddles. I believe in Nigeria and therefore decided to put Nigerian difficult to cook soups together. Process with spices for easy cooking and awesome taste.

How did you get funding for your business?

Initially savings, family and friends. I recently took a soft bank loan.

What opportunities have you been able to leverage on in your business so far?

I have had access to trainings and seminars from EDC, Google, Poize media Association. I am also a beneficiary of the Technology incubation Centre and manufacturers association. I have had Food Processing trainings with the Nigerian stored products research institute.

What Challenges have you faced so far and how have you been able to overcome them?

I have faced lots of challenges especially in terms of product acceptance. Being a new and unknown product consumers are a bit hesitant. But once the product is tested the feedback is always positive.

How will you summarize the journey so far?

The journey has been slow but steady

Given the Chance, will you do this again?

Yes

What lessons have you been able to learn from your journey so far that others should know.

Never give up on your dreams. The journey may be slow and long, filled with so many obstacles. But with persistent patience your are sure to make it to the end, the finish line.

How can people connect with you

Foodconvee. Com.ng, Facebook, Twitter.
017907615, 08140892759, 08173601628