Powering Lagos State’s Startup Funding Infrastructure
5+ Years
Continuous platform partnership, spanning two leadership transitions at LSETF
240+
Startups supported across programme cycles
750+
Workspace vouchers distributed to founders through the platform
3 Systems
Integrated end-to-end: custom platform, application management, voucher management
Overview
Lagos Innovates is the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund’s flagship programme for tech-driven startups, offering workspace vouchers, hub loans, and event sponsorship through open, merit-based applications. We have been the technical partner behind the programme since its early years, building and maintaining the full digital infrastructure that makes it run. From the public-facing site at lagosinnovates.ng to the application judging workflows, digital voucher distribution system, and startup directory, we built and continue to support every layer of the stack. Over the course of the partnership, the platform has enabled the distribution of more than 750 workspace vouchers and supported over 240 startups, contributing to Lagos State’s position as Africa’s leading startup ecosystem.
The Challenge
LSETF needed a platform that could do far more than publish information. It had to manage the entire lifecycle of a government funding programme: from public applications and merit-based judging by external panels, through to digital voucher distribution to approved startups. Off-the-shelf tools could not handle that end-to-end. And for a programme disbursing public funds to hundreds of founders, reliability and auditability were non-negotiable.