Accelerator for mid-stage African entrepreneurs announces the opening of 2024 application cycle
Now in its fifth year, Cascador has successfully elevated dozens of entrepreneurs and their companies through a unique blend of education, mentoring, pitch training, and personalized support, driving over USD 27M in capital raised by past Cascador fellows.
Alumni from previous cohorts are already experiencing the impact of participation in Cascador under the mentorship of expert Nigerian and American entrepreneurs.
Farmer Samson Ogbole, Founder and CEO of Soilless Farm Lab, and a 2022 Cascador fellow, shared the impact of his experience,
- “Cascador was a path to self-discovery, vision alignment, and market-driven problem-solving. I found it very helpful to share unpolished ideas with Cascador’s facilitators, thought leaders, and mentors, and then leverage their expertise and industry network to match my business model to market needs.”
Founder and CEO of Adunni Organics, a Nigeria-based natural skincare company, Olumide Gbadebo, stated,
- “The Cascador Program was an epiphany for me. I examined my business from a completely different perspective, which has changed our trajectory in the months following Cascador. Your individual personality and business challenges are addressed, and the faculty and mentors are available to offer support and guidance, all of which lead to outcomes that are perfectly tailored to your unique needs. Participating in Cascador was my best decision of 2022.”
Cascador participants are mid-stage entrepreneurs with at least 1 year in operation. They should have annual revenue from sales that exceed USD 50,000 per year or have raised at least USD 250,000 of capital. Participation is limited to 10 fellows.
Regarding the personal journey of entrepreneurship, Farmer Samson Ogbole said,
- “With Cascador you get to be part of a family – in every sense of the word. The environment was open and receptive, and I experienced no feeling of competition with my fellow Cascadors. Cascador’s faculty and fellows are with you every step of the way, and if you reach out to them the door is always open.”
Our 2023 fellow, Femi Bewaji, CEO of Fembol Group reveals that;
- “Cascador has been very impactful in all areas of our business. It’s been a very interesting journey for me. There have been a lot of lessons learned across all our businesses, on leadership, self-discovery, fundraising, and scaling. The most important thing for me in the program is that we’ve been able to build a good ecosystem of co-founders where we can collaborate to do great things.”
Femi advises other entrepreneurs to apply:
- “I feel like you shouldn’t think about it, you should see this as an opportunity for you to come and learn and scale your business. From day one you will feel the impact on your business, you’ll see the network, and you can grow.”
The 2024 Cascador program will be hosted from November 4 – 8, 2024 at Lagos Business School.
The week-long intensive is augmented by pre-program preparatory sessions and exercises, and 6 months of follow-up mentoring. All lodging and meals for the week are provided by Cascador.
Learn more at www.cascador.org and or on the accelerator’s YouTube channel. Interested applicants can apply online for early acceptance between February 1st and April 30th.
About the Cascador Program
Cascador is an annual, no-cost program focused on a business scale. Accelerator curriculum is designed for mid-stage African entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and their leadership skills by working with successful American and Nigerian entrepreneurs from a wide range of industry sectors, backgrounds, and geographic locations. A one-week annual intensive in-person program is augmented with preparatory exercises, and self-awareness coaching, and is followed by 6 months of mentorship. Interested applicants, partners, sponsors, and prospective faculty can learn more and contact the Cascador team at www.cascador.org.
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