FG launches N50m equity-free grant for tertiary students

The Federal Government has officially launched the N50 million Student Venture Capital Grant (S-VCG), aimed at transforming student innovation and entrepreneurship across tertiary institutions nationwide.
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The Minister of Education, Dr. Tunji Alausa, unveiled the programme on Monday in Abuja, describing it as a strategic national investment aligned with President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda. The S-VCG is designed to identify and nurture high-potential, campus-born ideas into commercially viable ventures.
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Successful beneficiaries will receive up to N50 million in equity-free seed funding, meaning they are not required to surrender ownership stakes in their companies. The funding is also packaged with intensive incubation, expert mentorship, and access to tools needed for scalable ventures.
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Eligible ventures must be rooted in STEMM fields (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, and Medical Sciences).
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The programme is open to full-time students in all federal, state, and private tertiary institutions, with the primary applicant required to be in Year 3 or above, while younger students can participate as team members.
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Ventures must have a CAC-registered business name and be beyond the proof-of-concept stage.
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‎The program is a collaborative initiative involving several government and private sector bodies, which Minister Alausa says will ensure a fair and rigorous selection process.
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‎The Federal Ministry of Education and TETFund are implementing the grant, in collaboration with strategic partners, including the Bank of Industry (BOI), Afara Initiative, Afrilabs, the Entrepreneurship and Skills Development Centre, and Google.
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‎Shortlisted teams will pitch their ideas before a 12-member expert panel drawn from academia, industry, venture capital, and government. The application portal itself is powered by Google’s Gemini AI to ensure efficient and fair screening of the applications.
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‎The National Programme Coordinator, Adebayo Onigbanjo, revealed that the portal has received 17,914 applications from 402 schools, with over 1,000 having been fully submitted so far. The application portal opened on November 17 and will close on January 23, 2026.
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