The Mary Ojulari Basis has opened the decision for purposes for the Vanguard Fellowship Cohort 2, its flagship entrepreneurship initiative designed to determine, equip, and elevate visionary innovators throughout Nigeria.
Following a extremely profitable inaugural cohort that supported 25 entrepreneurs with $125,000 in enterprise development funding, the Basis is inviting changemakers to hitch the Vanguard neighborhood — a platform the place concepts meet alternative, mentorship, and measurable affect.
The second cohort continues the Basis’s mission to nurture purpose-driven entrepreneurs who’re constructing sustainable options to urgent neighborhood and financial challenges. By means of a mixture of capability constructing, enterprise mentorship, and catalytic funding, the programme empowers individuals to show imaginative and prescient into viable enterprise. Purposes are open from Sept. 24 to Oct. 26, 2025, with shortlisting on Oct. 30 and interviews scheduled for Nov. 1-2, 2025.
Shortlisted candidates will take part within the Ignite Bootcamp, a two-week immersive studying expertise operating from Nov. 10-21, 2025, adopted by Pitch Day on Nov. 20-22.
Throughout the Pitch Day, fellows will current their enterprise concepts to a panel of buyers and business leaders for an opportunity to obtain seed funding and ongoing mentorship.
Founding father of the Mary Ojulari Basis, Mary Ojulari, stated the Fellowship is designed to bridge the hole between innovation and alternative.
“There are such a lot of concepts that fade, not as a result of they lack potential, however as a result of they lack entry to capital, mentorship, and the correct mindset,” Ojulari stated.
“The Vanguard Fellowship exists to nurture these concepts and the distinctive people behind them. We’re constructing a neighborhood of daring thinkers who lead with objective, create sustainable worth, and encourage others to rise.”
She added that empowerment, at its core, should create a ripple impact — reworking people whereas strengthening the communities they serve.
“Our objective is to help founders who’re intentional, disciplined, and able to construct options that make lives higher. The affect should flow into — when one is lifted, others ought to rise too.”
Purposes are open to aspiring and rising entrepreneurs throughout Nigeria who’re creating progressive, sustainable options to actual challenges of their communities.
Every applicant might submit both a five-minute video or a 750-word written piece detailing their story, enterprise thought, and imaginative and prescient for affect.
Submissions ought to be despatched to [email protected]. Additional particulars, together with the applying toolkit and updates, can be found on the Basis’s official social media pages.
