A technology hub or center is a community, informal or not, set up mainly for innovation for technological emergencies.
A tech hub can be a particular area, a specific building, or a community of buildings where larger companies can save space for facilities.
Tech hubs create a substantial specific direction to help young people develop technology to thrive by experimenting, demonizing, and assisting the company in connecting with other people and ideas.
This medium also allows companies to find inverters to finance their project, help seed ideas, and grow businesses.
The emergence of innovation centers around the world is becoming an exciting trend.
Leading brands like Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon, Uber, Lyft, and Snapchat, among others, are massive tech companies that have helped grow the US economy and deepen financial markets.
Nigeria is also projecting itself as a critical player in the age of innovation and technological advancement, as dynamic young entrepreneurs have emerged in the tech space in search of solutions to the challenges of the economy.
Nigeria has several tech hubs in its southern region, from Abuja and Lagos to Port Harcourt.
1. Enspire Hub
Since its inception in 2009, the Enspire Hub value proposition has focused on promoting business growth and success and providing comprehensive business support services to which all innovative businesses or individuals admitted into its incubator program can access.
With a base in Abuja, it’s easy to see why it is a staple in the capital’s thriving ecosystem.
The Enspire Hub is also crucial in launching the Abuja Technology Village Free Zone (ATV) company, which seeks to boost economic growth and sustainable job creation in Nigeria through innovation.
Services include an incubation and pre-incubation program, an acceleration program, and business clinics. To check for more info, click here.
2. Blue Hub
The Blue Hub is a “tech partnership” designed to provide services related to technology and business incubation.
It kicked off on February 23rd 2017, with a program titled “Young Mind Ideations”, a seminar designed to educate participants on idea creation, and entrepreneurship and business set-up.
Blue Hub’s services include incubation, workspaces, training, seminars, and ICT consulting. To check for more info, click here.
3. Technology Development for Poverty Alleviation Initiative (TD4PAI)
Located in the Kuje district of Abuja, TD4PAI is a non-profit, non-governmental technology incubator, accelerator, training, and research and development center that nurtures innovative ideas.
TD4PAI, founded in 2014 by Dr Agu Collins, focuses primarily on embedded systems and hardware programming.
The aim is to increase society’s socio-economic well-being by creating paid employment opportunities through the empowerment of young people from vulnerable backgrounds by making technological education available, especially in rural communities, and developing life skills through innovation and incubation of new businesses and ongoing programs, such as ICT, creative arts, sports, education.
4. KAD ICT Hub
The drive to serve as a hub for entrepreneurs, computer engineering, software development, and enabling software testing and computer training brought about the emergence of the KAD ICT Hub in Kaduna.
While partnering with CODERS4AFRICA, KAD ICT Hub offers a training program for beginners and advanced learners with cutting-edge technology tools and trends. The government of Kaduna State established the KAD ICT Hub. To check for more info, click here.
5. StoneBricks Hub
StoneBricks Hub was designed by two successful young entrepreneurs who needed to support Abuja’s vibrant community by impacting startups.
The main goal of StoneBricks Hub is to empower a new generation of bright-thinking and creative young minds, which will add technological value to all sectors of the economy and solve real problems.
This immediate support comes from incubating tech experts, placing them in an inspiring and creative workspace, and then mentoring them.
State-of-the-art facilities offer an aura that gives each incubated company total independence from its business unit and workstation while leaving room for collaborative growth. To check for more info, click here.
6. StartPreneurs
StartPreneurs is a seed fund and a startup accelerator founded by Jennifer Chizua in January 2016. Discovering a gap in the entrepreneurial support of startups in Abuja, the enthusiastic entrepreneur helped.
StartPreneurs invests and accelerates innovative Nigerian startups, setting them up to be competitive on a global scale.
However, the focus is on machine learning, artificial intelligence, and getting started with augmented reality.
The quarterly acceleration program includes a modeling phase, a validation phase, and an expansion phase.
Currently, startups included in their acceleration program are Mobidoc, Saduwa, WeMuzik, and Tiro. To check for more info, click here.
7. CoLab
Situated in Kaduna’s southern part, a new narrative of a state obscured by a series of inter-tribal conflicts and riot attacks.
The technology center was launched in October 2016 by Ismail Sanusi to give entrepreneurs and developers of Kaduna new hope to pitch their innovative ideas.
Although its incubation program has not yet started successfully, CoLab is still home to around eight startups who receive mentorship and resources to turn their ideas into business. To check for more info, click here.
8. nHub
As well as being the first tech hub to emerge in the northern region of Nigeria, the Jos-based tech hub is almost unique with what appears to be a system that empowers developers, software engineers, and anybody interested in the technology hardcore to converge.
nHub developers create products for Nigeria’s health, agriculture, and other economic needs.
The scholarship program, which runs over eight months, will see how developers work on several projects, as each programmer is bound to a specific coding standard when managing projects.
Even after the program ends, many developers are retained, while companies will temporarily hire some.
Interestingly, the number of developers has grown significantly since its launch. To check for more info, click here.
9. Ventures Platform
While not the first tech hub emerging in the federal capital, the Ventures platform has become the standard for creating an incubation tech facility.
Kola Aina founded the Ventures platform to serve as a springboard for technology innovators tackling Africa’s biggest challenges.
Since its inception, the Ventures platform has played a vital role in developing Abuja’s tech ecosystem and in Nigeria in general.
Their well-coordinated hybrid incubation program covers six weeks. To check for more info, click here.
10. Wennovation Hub
Sole Odetayo founded the Wennovation Hub to serve as a beacon for many young innovators and entrepreneurs in Ibadan.
However, the center also has an office in Lagos as part of an effort to inspire and empower African entrepreneurs.
The Wennovation Hub focuses on social impact sectors, including education, agriculture, health and infrastructure, focusing on job creation.
As an incubator/accelerator, Wennovation Hub provides a shared working environment where people meet, work, network, share ideas and collaborate on projects. To check for more info, click here.
11. iDEA Hub
Located on Herbert Macaulay Road, Yaba, the iDEA hub supports digital entrepreneurs in mentoring, collaborative space, legal and business support.
With government support through the National Information Technology Development Fund (NITDEVF), the iDEA hub has expanded its presence to Tinapa, Cross River, enabling it to provide incubation, acceleration, and mentorship outside Yaba. To check for more info, click here.
12. Co-Creation Hub (CcHub)
CcHub is widely known for locating a physical location in what Nigeria calls a tech ecosystem.
No wonder it was the founder of Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg’s first stop on a visit to Nigeria.
It is still the first open laboratory and pre-incubation space in Nigeria. The center is designed to be a multi-purpose space where creative social technology businesses are catalyzed.
It has also become a place for technologists, social entrepreneurs, government, tech companies, influential investors, and hackers in and around Lagos to come together and create new solutions to many social issues in Nigeria. To check for more info, click here.
Conclusion;
In conclusion, the country’s list of tech innovation centers is endless.
They have all contributed immensely towards the advancement of technological innovation and the general development of tech hubs in Nigeria.
Kindly share your experience with tech hubs in Nigeria or the other tech hubs you know in the country.
