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- Entertainment Week Africa is introducing a grant pool for standout businesses in its 2026 Deal Room, expanding a programme designed to connect creative businesses with investors, mentors and commercial opportunities.
Entertainment Week Africa (EWA) is introducing a new Deal Room Grant Pool for its 2026 edition, creating a direct funding opportunity for standout creative businesses participating in this year’s Deal Room.
The initiative is designed to address a persistent challenge for creative businesses across Africa: moving from a strong idea or early-stage business to a position where the company can attract the capital, partnerships and commercial support required to grow.
The grant pool was announced at the EWA Deal Room Alumni Meetup in Lagos on October 7, bringing together founders who have previously participated in the programme.
The Deal Room has increasingly focused on what happens beyond the initial investor conversation. Rather than simply creating a platform for founders to pitch, the programme provides businesses with mentorship, investor access and opportunities to strengthen their commercial readiness.
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The 2025 Deal Room shortlisted 178+ company applications, with nine companies advancing to the accelerator stage and four attracting live investor interest. Participating businesses included Aktivate, Atsur, FriendnPal, Growwr, Prop’ly and Sports Reels, with ecosystem and investment mentorship and support from Future Africa, Catalyst Fund and Consonance Invest.
Previous participants have also reported tangible business outcomes from their involvement.
Bukunola Bolajoko of 1101 Technologies described the Deal Room as an opportunity to think beyond technical execution and consider the wider ecosystem required to build a stronger business, while also creating investor connections.
For Tele Lawal of Kouture Paradisé, the EWA ecosystem contributed to the brand’s expansion into international markets, including the US, UK and Sweden, alongside new partnerships that supported its operations.
The 2026 grant pool is intended to build on this foundation by putting actual funding behind selected businesses.
Businesses participating in this year’s Deal Room will work with mentors throughout the process, with a jury including their lead mentor assessing participants against a defined set of criteria. Standout businesses will then be considered for funding from the grant pool, which will be awarded during EWA 2026 in November.
The initiative is part of EWA’s wider approach to strengthening the commercial infrastructure around Africa’s creative economy. Alongside the Deal Room, the 2026 programme includes the Content Market, Music Market, Sync & Licensing Desk, Rights & IP Desk, Distribution Desk, Pitch Rooms and other industry-facing platforms designed to create connections between creative businesses, buyers, investors, brands and markets.
EWA 2026 will take place in Lagos from 17–22 November, bringing together six days of programming across seven creative industry tracks: Music, Film & TV, Fashion & Beauty, AI & Tech, Art & Animation, Live Events & Production, and Creative Enterprise.
Under the theme “Closing the Gap,” the 2026 edition is focused on strengthening the connections between African creative talent, capital, markets and commercial opportunity.
Applications are now open for the 2026 EWA Deal Room.
Creative businesses can apply directly through:
Entertainment Week Africa 2026
17–22 November 2026
Lagos, Nigeria
Closing the Gap
