In a bid to boost start-up capital and place more resources at the disposal of aspiring young entrepreneurs, Nigerian retail lender, Unity Bank Plc, has increased the prize money for winners of its flagship entrepreneurship development initiative known as Corpreneurship Challenge, to N16 million per stream.
Consequently, participants who emerge winners in the business pitch will henceforth win N800,000, N500,000, and N300,000 business grants for the first, second, and third positions respectively as against the previous editions in which the sum of N500,000, N300,000, and N200,000 were handed out to winners.
Launched in 2019 with pilots in four states – Lagos, Edo, Ogun, and Abuja – and scaled to 10 states in 2020, the initiative is promoted in partnership with the NYSC Skills Acquisition and Entrepreneurship Development (SAED).
The initiative features a business pitch presentation where participants can present their business plans and stand a chance to win business grants.
At the recently-concluded edition of the challenge for 2024 NYSC Batch A, Stream 1 NYSC service, 30 winners emerged, including upcoming entrepreneurs developing innovative solutions in several business value chains such as poultry farming, fashion, and pastries among others, after participating in the business pitch that took place across the 10 NYSC orientation camps in Rivers, Delta, Anambra, Abia, Oyo, Ogun, Kebbi, Niger Sokoto and Zamfara States.
At the Delta State NYSC Orientation Camp in Issele-Uku, Folorunsho Kolade, who pitched a poultry farming business plan emerged as the overall winner to claim the N800,000 grand prize. Samuel Ayodotun, whose innovative footwear venture idea, Basky Footprint, took the second spot to win the N500,000 cash prize while another corps member, Udoji Chibuike Peter, whose venture plan on the footwear fashion value chain also emerged as the second runner-up to claim the N300,000 grant.
