Cascador, a transformative programme for mid-stage entrepreneurs in Africa founded in 2019, has stated that the firm’s ultimate goal is impact.
This was stated during the Alumni Meeting of the company in Ikeja recently.
According to the Founder of Cascador, Dave DeLucia; “Impact can come in a variety of forms: social impact, job creation, innovative solutions to problems, or providing opportunities for women, the poor, or disadvantaged communities to advance. Rather than offering grants or working through NGOs, we have elected to power the entrepreneurs who are solving problems and making an impact through for-profit ventures.”
He said, “By developing leadership skills, financial acumen, connections, sources of capital and other resources to help them scale, we turbo charge their companies and make their impact possible. We also hope to inspire a spirit of humility, philanthropy and community that drives them to become leaders who give back to their country and community for years to come,” DeLucia added.
Speaking on the programme curriculum in 2024 and how it has bettered the entrepreneurs, Director of Cascador, Trish Thomas stated that “Our cohort members today have a much more expansive learning experience than our early Cascadors. A practical example of the improvement to our curriculum and timeline is that Founders have time to take their education back to their team and apply it in their real-world operating environment.”
In the past, she said “We taught the importance of knowing your customer and building your products, services and experiences around their needs. Today, our founders have time to complete a 3-week customer research project with their team, share their insights, and get our help in applying their findings to their business model. We also create a more lasting bond between the founders in each cohort through extended interaction, and teach a more holistic curriculum than before.”
In 2024, to demonstrate its commitment to the Nigerian market, Cascador awarded personal development stipends and prizes to cohort members. Ms. Thomas has said “We were very excited to have the funding to provide $5,000 USD stipends to each member of the 2024 Cascador cohort. It’s very difficult to be an entrepreneur in Nigeria today. Lending standards are tough, inflation is high, FX is very unfavourable, and there is not a lot of outside capital flowing in.”
“We encouraged our entrepreneurs to use this capital for personal and professional development to grow as a leader and access much needed training and support. We conclude each Cascador programme with a pitch day. In 2024, for the first time, we awarded three cash prizes: Impact Award ($20,000 USD): Chioma Ifeanyi-Eze, and Accountinghub. Chioma is transforming digital literacy across Africa through Data Entry Academy, a training programme that is empowering adults with crucial workplace skills. Pitch Competition Winner ($20,000 USD): Godwin Benson, Tuteria. Godwin is revolutionizing access to quality education through an innovative tutoring platform and curated tutor-student matching that particularly serves children with special learning needs.
And finally, Exemplary Cascador Award ($10,000 USD): Oluwaseyi Adefemi, Drive45 Mobility. Seyi was honoured by his peers for outstanding leadership, collaboration, and his innovative approach to democratizing vehicle ownership through subscription services” Ms. Thomas revealed.
Speaking of the Cascador Alumni community, Programme Director of Cascador, Amanda Etuk said, “We have always maintained connectivity and advisory level availability to our Cascador alumni, but our support for our alumni community is about to increase dramatically. We have historically hosted regular alumni dinners, mentored on a case-by-case basis, made introductions, and offered guidance on strategy and governance – that will all continue.
But through additional funding for our endowment in 2024, hiring a full-time team, and engaging more contract professionals, we will have far greater time and resources to develop our Cascador founders. We are still working on the details (announcement coming soon!), but we will be investing and lending substantial capital to our alumni in 2025 and beyond. We will also be providing more ongoing education, networking opportunities, and improved mentorship and services to everyone who has participated in Cascador in the future,” she stated.
On 2025 and new programme features or benefits, she said, “We’re still working out the details on some aspects of our 2025 expansion, but I can share a few things in advance. Our new, expanded Cascador programme will continue this year. The alumni community can expect a much higher level of engagement, education and support from us. And thanks to a large funding infusion into our Foundation, we will be able to annually award loans and investment capital to our alumni. Once we have the details of our capital plan finalized, we will share the news publicly. But suffice it to say that alumni will have some great opportunities coming.”
Elaborating on the motivation behind the volunteers and effort to developing entrepreneurial leaders in Africa, DeLucia stressed that Nigeria offers such fertile ground for impact! “We love working with entrepreneurs who are smart, motivated, mission-driven and operate successful businesses in a very difficult business environment. “
According to him, “Our faculty are committed to making the world a better place and supporting and inspiring the business leaders of tomorrow. It is an honour to share our expertise, wisdom, connections and capital with such dedicated founders who will apply it to solve problems, help others and scale. Our faculty and mentors also hope that their example will contribute to a thriving entrepreneurial ecosystem in Nigeria and a spirit of cooperation and giving back that will lift the entire economy and society.”
About the Cascador Program
Cascador is an annual, no-cost program focused on business scale and designed for mid-stage African entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and their interpersonal skills by working with successful American and Nigerian entrepreneurs from a wide range of industry sectors, backgrounds and geographic locations.
Interested applicants, partners, sponsors and prospective faculty can learn more and contact the Cascador team at www.cascador.org
