Cascador, a Nigerian platform dedicated to high-growth entrepreneurs, has revealed the ten startups chosen for its 2026 ScaleUp Program. This twelve-week initiative targets businesses already driving progress in healthcare, food security, energy solutions, and job creation.
The selection process drew from over 1,000 submissions, prioritizing companies with established traction in Nigeria’s economy and technology sectors. Unlike previous editions centered on early-stage ventures, this year’s focus lies with growth-stage businesses poised for expansion.
Selected Startups and Their Focus Areas
The ten chosen companies address key sectors shaping Nigeria’s future:
- Venco – A digital infrastructure provider handling payments, utilities, and communications for multi-tenant communities.
- SunFi – Specializes in financing and distributing solar energy products across rural and urban areas.
- ColdHubs – Operates solar-powered cold storage to minimize food waste for farmers and traders nationwide.
- EHA Clinics – Expands primary healthcare access through digital platforms, pharmacies, and home-based care services.
- Beauty Hut Africa – A retail and distribution network for both local and international beauty products, powered by technology.
- BEYOND Fitness – A premium wellness brand integrating fitness, recovery programs, and community engagement.
- Ziba Beach Resort – Develops leisure destinations aimed at stimulating Nigeria’s domestic tourism industry.
- Tulay Africa – A B2B marketplace connecting global industrial buyers with African producers of essential minerals.
- Maanj Agric – A farming cooperative offering smallholder farmers access to financing, climate-resilient inputs, storage, and market connections.
- Finger Chops – A scaled bakery operation supplying high-quality bread to households, retailers, and institutional clients.
Women lead nearly 60% of the selected companies, and the cohort represents five of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones. This distribution reflects Cascador’s commitment to regional and gender inclusion.
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Women-led startups drive food and tech innovation
Chude Osiegbu, CEO of Venco, described the program as transformative for expanding secure technology platforms across the continent. “As we scale, our goal is to bring our secure and efficient technology platform to more communities across new cities and countries, giving the managers who run them better tools to serve their residents,” he stated. Adenike Fetuga, CEO of Finger Chops, characterized the selection as a critical step toward establishing a dominant African food manufacturing enterprise.
The program’s concentration on growth-stage businesses aligns with Cascador’s evolving strategy, shifting from early-stage support to assisting ventures already demonstrating market impact. Since its launch in 2019, Cascador’s alumni have secured $125 million in funding and reached over 1.7 million customers in 2025. This year’s participants aim to build on that foundation.
The 2026 ScaleUp Program features:
- Personalized mentorship from investors and African and international experts.
- Strategic funding through Cascador’s Catalytic Fund, which provides up to $5 million annually in local-currency debt, equity, and guarantees, in partnership with Sterling Bank.
- A structured twelve-week format combining two weeks of in-person sessions with ten weeks of virtual learning.
- Competitive prizes, with top performers eligible for $50,000 in awards.
Program shifts focus to scaling impactful ventures
The initiative’s emphasis on mentorship and capital reflects Nigeria’s maturing entrepreneurial ecosystem, where startups increasingly transition from survival to scalable, impact-oriented growth. The selection shows a focus on businesses tackling systemic issues—such as energy access, healthcare delivery, and food preservation—while simultaneously generating employment and economic value.
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Trish Thomas, Cascador’s CEO, emphasized the cohort’s existing impact. “Their businesses are already creating jobs, generating value and spurring growth across some of the country’s most important sectors. Our focus now is helping them scale further and unlock their full potential, giving them the training, mentorship, networks and leadership skills needed to power their next phase of growth,” she said. The blended in-person and virtual structure accommodates the cohort’s diverse geographic distribution while supporting intensive collaboration.
Catalytic Fund bridges currency risks for growth-stage firms
The Catalytic Fund plays a critical role by offering local-currency financing, which mitigates currency risks for businesses operating in Nigeria’s fluctuating economic conditions. Sterling Bank’s participation signals deeper ties between financial institutions and startup ecosystems, potentially encouraging more traditional investors to engage with high-potential African ventures.
While the program’s immediate scope centers on the ten selected companies, its broader significance may lie in its potential to transform Nigeria’s business environment. Past participants have collectively attracted substantial capital and expanded operations, potentially establishing new performance benchmarks for African growth-stage startups. The effectiveness of this support in driving measurable scaling—rather than being constrained by funding shortages or regulatory barriers, will define the initiative’s lasting success.
The first in-person sessions commence in early 2026, marking what Cascador describes as a key phase for Nigeria’s entrepreneurial community. The focus remains on these ten companies and their ability to convert mentorship and capital into lasting expansion.
