Venture capital investment into Lagos state increased to over 120 per cent within three years, resulting to about $1.5 billion in investment from different Start-ups in the state.
This is even as the state recently emerged as the number one Start-Up investment capital in Africa, and the key economic driver for Nigeria.
The special advisor on Innovation and Technology, Lagos state, Olatubosun Alake, who disclosed this at the Art OF Technology (AOT) Lagos 4.0, said about 107 technology Start-ups have raised funding in Lagos to the tune of $750 million in 2022, adding that between 20,000 and 50,000 people are employed by different Start-ups across the innovation sector.
The special advisor attributed this success to the hub and co-working spaces that have been put in place by the state government to incubate and accelerate the Start-ups in the sector. “We also have the university initiatives, local and foreign investment which have been driving growth in the ecosystem,” he added.
In the same vein, the deputy governor of Lagos state, Dr. Kadri Obafemi Hamzat, disclosed that the state recorded over 2000 Start-ups creating and contributing value across Fintech, Agritech, Construction and Health among others, adding that all these point to an open and enabling environment for the growth and proliferation of entrepreneurial activity within the technology ecosystem.
Since the first AOT gathering, Hamzat said the state has ignited the Lagos State Science Research and Innovation Council, a body consisting of private and public sector professionals tasked with intervening directly in the ecosystem through funding. The result to date has seen over 60 Start-ups receive funding of between $5,000 and $12,000 in the past two years, he disclosed, adding that, this funding constituted some of the initial runway rounds for Start-ups that have gone to raise millions of dollars in funding.
In deepening internet penetration, the deputy governor stated that the state has concluded over 2,900km of optic fibre deployment across the state, connecting about 100 schools. “We have partnered with some telcos that are using our installed fibre optic ducts to power their 5G based stations. As you well know MTN launched its 5G service this year. The ducts we have installed has further enabled significant de-risking of this telco infrastructure market,” he added.
In the past one year, Hamzat said Lagos has attracted over $1 billion in Data centre investment which has enabled the local domicile of digital platforms as well as open the state for more digital technology opportunities. “Also, our Smart City implementation has seen us deploy over 600 Smart Intelligent Video Surveillance Cameras as well as Intelligent Transportation Cameras for Traffic monitoring and management,” he revealed.
