There is no doubt that Startups have taken over the business sphere in the last few decades. While the term startup is not new, it only began to gain momentum in the 1990’s when the number of technology and internet-related companies rapidly increased. We have recently witnessed the emergence of companies like Piggy vest, Opay, Flutterwave and Law pavillion. On the global stage, we have seen companies like Bytedance, Stripe and SpaceX.
Nigeria has the highest number of start-ups in Africa and the highest number of funded startups. The 161 start-ups based in Nigeria made up 28.5 per cent of the continent’s funded ventures in 2021, the highest number of companies backed in any country, a title Nigeria holds for the second year running.
While conceiving the idea for a start-up is not always an easy feat, the major challenge Startup founders face is funding for their business. A good number of promising Startups who have the potential to contribute significantly to the economy have had to stop operations due to lack of funds to execute their project and the rapidly shifting position of the government.
This article seeks to explore the various funding options available to start-ups under the Nigerian Law.