LAGOS, NIGERIA – JUNE, 2026, CASCADOR [4], AN AFRICA-FOCUSED
PLATFORM FOR GROWTH-STAGE FOUNDERS BUILDING BUSINESSES WITH SOCIAL IMPACT, HOSTED ITS SECOND ANNUAL PITCH DAY ON JUNE 3RD, 2026, FOLLOWING A SUCCESSFUL INAUGURAL EVENT LAST YEAR. OVER $5M OF GROWTH CAPITAL WAS DEPLOYED TO SEVEN INNOVATIVE AFRICAN ENTREPRENEURS, WHO PITCHED THEIR VISION AND GROWTH STRATEGIES BEFORE AN INFLUENTIAL AUDIENCE OF BUSINESS LEADERS AND A DISTINGUISHED PANEL OF JUDGES.
This year’s event brought together more than 300 investors, lenders,
mentors, and ecosystem builders for high-value conversations with
founders scaling impactful companies across Nigeria.
Pitch Day is the culmination of Cascador’s annual Catalytic Fund
deployment cycle, a funding initiative that provides up to $5M per year
in tailored support to Cascador’s ScaleUp alumni through a blend of
debt and equity investments, while celebrating the entrepreneurs who
have grown through its ecosystem. Finalists were selected based on their
ability to absorb and multiply the value of capital, education, and
networks, as well as their potential for social impact, including job
creation and service to underserved communities.
Deina Mayaki of Agriarche, the largest funding recipient from the 2026
Catalytic Fund, shared her experience, “Cascador’s ScaleUp program
built upon my team’s ability to translate learning into action by
helping us refine our message and market position, adjust our funding
strategy, and adapt without defensiveness. The Catalytic Fund due
diligence team assessed Agriarche’s financial strength, resourcefulness,
and track record of success, and they rewarded our high-potential for
scale and impact today by awarding a new N2.5B credit facility to power
our growth.”
The 2026 Pitch Day Funding Recipients:
- Deina Mayaki (Agriarche) – Debt ₦2.5B ($1.7M)
- Deborah Gael (Koolboks) – Debt ₦2B ($1.4M)
- Okey Esse (Powerstove) – Debt ₦1.8B ($1.2M)
- Daniel Komolafe (First Electric) – Debt ₦500M ($357K)
- Femi Oyewole (Fortics) – Debt ₦200M ($142K)
- Preston Ideh (Stears) – Equity $450K
- Yinka Iyinolakan (Indigenius AI) – Equity $250K
“In just two years, Pitch Day has awarded more than $9M to
growth-stage African founders, helping to build a new generation of
entrepreneurs equipped to scale transformative businesses. We’re now
looking for the next cohort of exceptional founders to join our 2026
ScaleUp program and hope to see them on stage at the next Pitch Day.”
Dave DeLucia, Founder of Cascador.
Also read: https://brandspurng.com/2026/06/05/are-you-spending-too-much-on-your-car/
Cascador’s ScaleUp Program works with an elite cohort of entrepreneurs
to strengthen leadership, sharpen strategy, and prepare founders to
scale sustainably. Through this approach, Cascador is helping build the
next generation of high-impact African businesses. Since 2019, it has
supported 70 companies that have collectively raised more than $125
million.
Applications for the 2026 ScaleUp Program are open until June 15 [5] to
transformative leaders ready to take their companies to the next stage
of growth by accessing the connections, resources, and capital required
to scale their businesses.
Alongside Iyin Aboyeji of Future Africa and Nneke Eze of Vested World,
Daniel Ayoede of Verod Capital Management judged the prize competition
for Cascador Pitch Day 2026. Speaking about his experience with
Cascador, Ayoede said, “Two years judging Pitch Day, plus a season as
faculty for the Cascador ScaleUp program, taught me something the term
sheets never capture: capital readiness, not capital, is what turns
funding into scale. The founders on stage today walk away with customer
pipelines, team training, mentorship, and bespoke support, the
connective tissue that lets them multiply what they raise. This is not
an accelerator. It is ecosystem architecture, and these founders are its
proof.”
Special Prizes Awarded
In addition to investment capital, two entrepreneurs received
recognition for innovation and pitch quality, with $10k USD awarded by
NSIA as a Prize for Innovation and $10k USD awarded by the judges’ panel
for Best Pitch:
- NSIA Prize for Innovation: Indigenius AI
- Best Pitch: Koolboks
Esteemed Panel Session
Pitch Day featured a high-level panel discussion titled “Innovative
Capital Deployment Structures in Nigeria,” moderated by Cascador
Founder Dave DeLucia and bringing together leading voices across the
investment, financial, and public sector ecosystem, including Idris
Bello of LoftyInc Capital, Danladi Verheijen of Verod Capital,
Darlington Nwankwo of Sterling Bank, Ada Osakwe of Agrolay Ventures &
Nuli, and Ijeoma Taylaur of NSIA. The session will explore creative
capital deployment strategies needed to help growth-stage businesses
access patient equity, working capital, concessionary debt, and the
strategic support required to scale sustainably.
Two 2025 Catalytic Fund capital recipients shared their performance and
impact post-funding. Babatunde Akin-Moses of Sycamore said, “Truly
catalytic capital should create companies that eventually no longer need
it: That is what it did for Sycamore. Our recent commercial paper raise
was oversubscribed by 230%.” And Seyi Adefemi of Drive45, the largest
capital recipient last year, shared, “There are founders across Africa
solving real problems and building resilient businesses. What they often
lack is the financial and non-financial support to cross the gap between
potential and scale. Cascador helped Drive45 cross that gap.”
Cascador’s alumni are driving innovation, raising investment capital,
winning awards, and changing the face of the African economy. CEOs of
growth-stage companies across Sub-Saharan Africa who have demonstrated
meaningful traction and are ready to take their companies to the next
stage of growth are encouraged to apply for the fall Cascador ScaleUp
cohort.
