FG-backed NiYA programme offers 8 young founders up to ₦5m each

The Federal Government, through the Nigerian Youth Academy (NiYA), has partnered with Cascador to help young Nigerian founders move from early-stage business ideas to investment-ready companies, with eight participants set to receive up to ₦5 million each in non-dilutive funding.

The NiYA × Cascador Founders Programme is a four-week programme designed around business fundamentals, investment readiness and pitch preparation.

But the ₦5 million headline comes with an important qualification: only 20 founders are selected for the pilot cohort, and only the eight top-performing participants are eligible for the funding.

Applications opened on August 19 and closed on August 21, according to the NiYA platform. The programme is being delivered in Abuja, with virtual engagements and one-on-one mentorship also included. 

How the ₦5 million funding works

The programme does not offer ₦5 million to everyone who applies.

NiYA and Cascador will first select 20 early-stage Nigerian founders for the pilot cohort. Those participants will then go through four weeks of business development, investment-readiness training, mentorship and pitch preparation.

At the end of the programme, participants will present their businesses during a Pitch Day before a panel of judges.

The eight top-performing founders will each receive up to ₦5 million in non-dilutive funding from Cascador. They will also receive an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) solution intended to help them structure, manage and scale their businesses. 

Non-dilutive funding means the founders do not have to surrender equity in their businesses in exchange for the funding.

That makes the opportunity different from a conventional equity investment, where an investor provides capital in return for an ownership stake.

You do not need an established startup structure to be considered

One of the more notable features of the programme is its focus on early-stage founders.

The Federal Ministry of Youth Development said the pilot will include entrepreneurs who may not yet have formal business registration or established financial records.

That matters because formal registration, financial history and other business documentation can become barriers for young founders seeking conventional financing.

The programme is instead designed to help participants strengthen those foundations while preparing them for investment.

The ministry described the partnership as an attempt to connect youth development with entrepreneurship, business growth and access to finance. 

What happens during the four weeks?

The programme is structured around three broad areas.

Business fundamentals: Participants work on strengthening the foundations of their businesses and improving their business models.

Investment readiness: Founders receive support designed to help them become better prepared for potential capital and understand what investors look for in a business.

Pitch preparation: Participants prepare to present their businesses at the final Pitch Day, where their performance will help determine which eight founders receive the funding.

The programme also includes virtual engagements and one-on-one mentorship sessions, while the main programme is being delivered in person in Abuja. 

Who is behind the programme?

The programme brings together the Federal Ministry of Youth Development, NiYA and Cascador.

FMYD and NiYA are responsible for participant sourcing, training and day-to-day programme delivery, while Cascador is supporting the development of eligibility criteria, investment-readiness preparation, pitch judging and funding for the top-performing participants. 

The partnership therefore combines the government’s reach among young Nigerians with a private-sector organisation’s role in preparing founders for capital.

This is part of a bigger NiYA experiment

The Cascador programme sits within NiYA’s wider effort to move beyond skills training and connect young Nigerians with employment and entrepreneurship opportunities.

NiYA says its broader ambition is to empower and train 7 million young people within two years and contribute to the creation of 5 million jobs within three years.

The ministry has also been expanding other entrepreneurship programmes through NiYA.

According to the ministry, 200 young business owners have received ₦1 million each, while another 200 young people operating in the informal sector have received ₦500,000 each through previous NiYA support. 

The Cascador partnership takes a different approach by putting investment readiness and private-sector capital directly into the programme structure.

The bigger opportunity is the model, not just the ₦5 million

For young founders, the most important part of this programme may not be the size of the final cheque.

It is the attempt to create a pathway between entrepreneurship training and access to capital.

Many early-stage founders can develop an idea without knowing how to structure the business, demonstrate its potential to investors or present it effectively when funding becomes available.

The NiYA × Cascador model attempts to address those gaps before capital is deployed.

That also explains why the programme is competitive. The government and Cascador are not simply distributing money to applicants. They are selecting a small group, putting them through an intensive preparation process and then using performance to determine who receives funding.

The official NiYA platform now lists the programme as having 20 founders in the pilot cohort and eight founders eligible for up to ₦5 million each, with the application window marked as closed on August 21.

For founders who missed this cohort, the more useful lesson may be to watch what happens next.

If the pilot successfully connects early-stage founders to business preparation, investment readiness and non-dilutive capital, it could provide a model for how government youth programmes move beyond training people to actually helping them build investable businesses.