How Nigerians Can Start, Grow Businesses – Iwuoha

A business developer/activator, John-Paul Iwuoha, has launched launch 3x Start Up Prize platform to provide financial assistance and entrepreneurial education to aspiring business owners in Nigeria.
In an interview with newsmen, Iwuoha said despite the abundance of intelligent and enterprising individuals across Nigeria, many are hindered by the lack of guidance and seed capital needed to turn their innovative business ideas into thriving enterprises.

Recognising this critical gap, he said the 3x Start Up Prize seeks to address issues related to seed capital, strategy, mindset, skills, and guidance.

Iwuoha said he works closely with entrepreneurs in the startup and growth stages, tackling challenges ranging from strategy and sales to business models, fundraising, growth, and human capital.
He asserted that his mission is geared towards facilitating a smoother and faster journey for Africa-focused entrepreneurs to establish and expand their businesses.

Reflecting on his nearly decade-long commitment to this mission, Iwuoha highlighted his track record of assisting individuals in Nigeria, Ghana, The Gambia, Uganda, DR Congo, and various African countries, he said his career trajectory, starting at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) in 2008, has equipped him with extensive experience in corporate strategy, performance improvement, and technology.
Following his role in the oil and gas industry, Iwuoha founded Smallstarter Africa in 2015, later rebranded as Activator HQ in 2023.

“I also earned a Bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the Federal University of Technology, Owerri (FUTO) in 2006. In 2018, I was recognized by LinkedIn as a Top Voice on Startups and Entrepreneurship. My work has been featured on CNN, The Fidelity Bank SME Forum, The African Diaspora News Channel and several other platforms. I have also given guest lectures on entrepreneurship at the University of Connecticut (USA) and Reutlingen University (Germany), and have also served as a judge for the Africa Heroes Prize (sponsored by the Alibaba and Jack Ma Foundations), noted John-Paul.
He said he was inspired by the 3X Startup Prize as an initiative of his firm, Activator HQ, in partnership with VOP (Voice of the People) 90.3FM Lagos. According to him, “It is a N1 million prize that aims to discover and support early-stage entrepreneurial talent in the city of Lagos.

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“In my line of work, I have found there are many smart and enterprising people across Nigeria who have brilliant and innovative business ideas but lack the guidance and seed capital required to transform their ideas into real, thriving businesses. For these people, there is a critical missing link that holds them back from realizing their entrepreneurial dreams. This missing link could be seed capital, strategy, mindset, skill, or guidance.

“The “missing link” is the inspiration behind the name we chose for our initiative, the 3X Startup Prize. The “X” is a common letter used in mathematics to represent an unknown or missing value that needs to be solved for. As a result, we are hoping to discover and support three people with promising business ideas who will get valuable feedback, mentoring, and a total cash prize of N1 million as seed capital.