9 Nigerian startups receive Cascador’s $3m debt support

Nine Nigerian startups have benefitted from over $3 million debt funding facilities from the premier accelerator for mid-stage Nigerian entrepreneurs, Cascador. The funds are to support the receivers in operations and reposition them for global competitiveness. The awardees, who received the fund after presentation of their pitches and being judged industry leaders include Crop2Cash, Oriki, […]

Nine Nigerian startups have benefitted from over $3 million debt funding facilities from the premier accelerator for mid-stage Nigerian entrepreneurs, Cascador.

The funds are to support the receivers in operations and reposition them for global competitiveness.

The awardees, who received the fund after presentation of their pitches and being judged industry leaders include Crop2Cash, Oriki, N.E.A.T, Adunmi Organics, Sycamore, DoChase, Drive45, 24SEVEN and ExCare.

Speaking earlier before the pitch, Trish Thomas, CEO of Cascador, said funding beneficiaries are graduates of the Cascador programme, which has trained several indigenous companies since 2019.

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According to her, the fund will help beneficiaries reach a larger customer base with their operations.
“Our 2025 cohort will be our seventh cohort. The funding is actually only available to alumni of our Cascador programme. There are about 60 companies now that have gone through the programme. The nine finalists that you see today have been awarded over $3 million debt and equity capital.

“It’s the first year that we are doing Pitch Day, and it’s the first year that we’re awarding this capital as an organisation,” she said.

She added that the funds are tailored to the needs of each business.

“We don’t follow a traditional venture capital model. We have a lot of manufacturing companies, agriculture, farmers, cutting across different sectors. Some of them are looking at scaling up, sustainable growth and what they need is working capital, not equity,” she said.

According to her, about 74 per cent of applicants requested debt, prompting Cascador to work with Sterling Bank to structure favourable loan terms.

“We’re partnering with Sterling Bank. We are creating a system where we are increasing access. So, we’re taking on the collateral requirements, pulling down the interest rate and also just taking down those barriers to lending,” she added.

Loans will come with interest rates around 20 per cent, with features such as moratoriums and tenures of up to five years.

The Founder, Cascador, Dave Delucia said aside from having access to the funds, the beneficiaries will also go through mentorship and capacity building that would help me make the best use of the additional capital.

Managing Director/ CEO of Sterling Bank, Abubakar Suleiman, said the partnership is aimed at building businesses that can meet commercial standards of bankability.

“Between that energy and becoming a successful business, there are a lot of ravines and valleys and obstacles. And what capital tries to do usually is to come in to remove some of those obstacles,” Suleiman said.

He noted that the mentorship and support provided by Cascador is “Even more important than the capital.”

He explained that the programme aims to help companies become strong enough to access commercial debt independently.

Other partners for the Cascador 2025 pitching event include the Nigerian Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA), which awarded Crop2Cash an additional $10,000 grant for the category of most impactful /sustainable business.

Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), another partner, also gave a $5,000 grant to N.E.A.T while $10,000 grant was awarded to Joycee Awosika of Oriki for emerging as the Best Pitch.