Accelerator for mid-stage African entrepreneurs announces the opening of 2024 application cycle
Cascador, a ground-breaking accelerator program helping mid-stage African entrepreneurs grow their businesses and improve their leadership skills, has announced program details and the opening of 2024 applications. Launch of the 2024 application cycle is accompanied by a new round of testimonials from past participants and glowing updates on the progress of their companies.
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Entering its sixth year, Cascador has successfully elevated dozens of entrepreneurs and their companies through a unique blend of education, mentoring, pitch training and personalized support, driving over $55M USD in capital raised by past Cascador fellows. 2024 is the first year that Cascador is offering a professional development stipend of $5,000 USD to each participating entrepreneur accepted into the cohort.
A key component of the unique Cascador model involves instruction and long-term mentoring by successful American and Nigerian entrepreneurs. As Cascador continues to expand and train new cohorts of entrepreneurs, the vibrant network of alumni, faculty and mentors enriches the African business community and elevates participants’ results.
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Interested applicants can view a wrap-up video summarizing the 2023 cohort on YouTube: Watch Now.
Farmer Samson Ogbole, Founder and CEO of Soilless Farm Lab, and a 2022 Cascador fellow, shared the impact of his experience, “Cascador was a path to self discovery, vision alignment and market-driven problem solving. I found it very helpful to share unpolished ideas with Cascador’s facilitators, thought leaders and mentors, and then leverage their expertise and industry network to match my business model to market needs.”
Founder and CEO of Adunni Organics, a Nigeria-based natural skincare company, Olumide Gbadebo, stated, “The Cascador Program was an epiphany for me. I examined my business from a completely different perspective, which has basically changed our trajectory in the months following Cascador. Your individual personality and business challenges are addressed, and the faculty and mentors are available to offer support and guidance, all of which leads to outcomes that are perfectly tailored to your unique needs. Participating in Cascador was my best decision of 2022.”
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Regarding the personal journey of entrepreneurship, Farmer Samson Ogbole said, “With Cascador you get to be part of a family – in every sense of the word. The environment was open and receptive, and I experienced no feeling of competition with my fellow Cascadors. Cascador’s faculty and fellows are with you every step of the way, and if you reach out to them the door is always open.”
A 2023 participant, Femi Bewaji, the CEO of Fembol Group reveals that, “Cascador has been very impactful in all areas of our business. It’s been a very interesting journey for me personally. There have been a lot of lessons learned… on leadership, self-discovery, fundraising and scaling. The most important thing for me in the programme is that we’ve been able to build a good ecosystem of co-founders where we can collaborate to do great things.”
Femi advises other entrepreneurs to apply, saying, “I feel like you shouldn’t think about it, you should see this as an opportunity to come and learn and scale your business. From day one you will feel the impact on your business, you’ll see the network, and you can actually grow.”
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Cascador participants are mid-stage entrepreneurs with at least 2 years in operation. They must generate annual revenue from sales that exceeds ₦50,000,000 per year. Participation is limited to 10 fellows.
The 2024 Cascador program will be hosted from November 4-8, 2024 at Lagos Business School. Participation in all 5 days of the in-person intensive is mandatory.
The week-long intensive is augmented by pre-program preparatory sessions and foundation-building exercises, and 6 months of follow-up mentoring. All lodging and meals for the week are provided by Cascador. $5,000 USD is provided to each Cascador participant after program completion, and funds may be used for professional development, business capital or personal use with no limitations.
Learn more at www.cascador.org and explore video content on the accelerator’s YouTube channel. Interested applicants can apply online for early acceptance through April 30th.
About the Cascador Program
Cascador is an annual, no-cost program focused on business scale. Accelerator curriculum is designed for mid-stage African entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and their leadership skills by working with successful American and Nigerian entrepreneurs from a wide range of industry sectors, backgrounds and geographic locations. A one-week annual intensive in-person program is augmented with preparatory exercises, self-awareness coaching, and is followed by 6 months of mentorship. Interested applicants, partners, sponsors and prospective faculty can learn more and contact the Cascador team at www.cascador.org.
