MIT Solve To Partner PICTT & NASENI to Scale Delta-2, DELT-Her Innovations
By Pan Afric Reporters
Ten Nigerian innovators from DELTA-2 Programme and Developing Engineering Leaders Through Her (DELT-Her) cohorts are set for a six- month acceleration programme at MIT Solve, Boston Massachusetts, creating pathways for promising homegrown solutions to scale and achieve greater impact.
Organized by the National Agency for Science and Engineering Infrastructure (NASENI) and the Presidential Implementation Committee on Technology Transfer (PICTT), the programme will see selected innovators strengthened with technical skills and mentorship that would help their innovations move to commercial stage.
MIT Solve is an open-innovation initiative from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) that provides social impact and entrepreneurship services, connecting startups with funding and resources to address global challenges.
Chairman of PICTT, Dr. Dahiru Mohammed, speaking in a media briefing at PICTT office in Abuja today, said 10 out of 20 innovators from the DELTA 2 and DELT-Her cohorts whose solutions are at various stages of scale readiness, after pitching to a team of judges, will be selected to partake in the six-month acceleration programme with MIT Solve, Boston Massachusetts.
He said drawing on an intake assessment of individual and cohort needs, MIT Solve will design targeted programming to help innovators refine their business models, strengthen their pitches, and build the entrepreneurial leadership needed to grow.
Throughout the six months programme, cohort convenings will bring innovators together with peers and invited ecosystem stakeholders, including industry associations, academic institutions, and other local partners, to build the ecosystem and visibility that early-stage Nigerian innovators need to scale.
According to Dr. Mohammed, the uniqueness of this initiative is that it has government support and backing and provides the Delta-2 and DELT-Her innovators access to global partners to support them to scale and become commercially viable.
“The Delta-2 Programme is focused on helping entrepreneurs access funding and partners from across the world to build on their innovations or to undertake research development and innovation activities that would bring about commercially viable products that would help Nigeria’s industrial development.
“The Second initiative is DELT-Her which focuses on female engineers across Nigeria to access opportunities to showcase their research and innovations and get them to the market”, noting that Nigeria has below average numbers of female engineers compared to the global average.
He said the partnership between NASENI, PICTT and MIT Solve is a game changer that will fast track the scaling up of innovators from DELTA-2 and DELT-Her programmes. He thanked President Bola Ahmed Tinubu for proving the level playing ground and founding for NASENI and PICTT to support Nigerian Innovators.
Among the judges that will select the 10 finalists for the MIT Solve accelerator programme include Halima Tauheed, MIT Solve; Olamide Apejoye, Project Coordinator; Musa Ali Baba, Consultant to PICTT, Chief Tunde Rahman, judge and others.
