Aurora Tech Award Launches Bootcamp for Nigerian Women Founders

• Aurora Tech Award, in partnership with The Nest Innovation Technology Park, introduced the Foundry for HER Bootcamp
• The three-day program will be held from October 15 to 17, 2025
• Attendees will be trained on pitching, fundraising, and scaling businesses outside local markets

Aurora Tech Award, in partnership with The Nest Innovation Technology Park, has initiated the Foundry for HER Bootcamp, an online accelerator aimed at empowering women-owned startups in Nigeria.

To be held from October 15 to 17, 2025, the three-day program focuses on early-stage female founders, providing pitching, fundraising, and scaling businesses beyond local markets training. The bootcamp will also prepare participants for the Aurora Tech Award Open Call 2026.

Applications began on September 8 and will end on October 3, with a maximum of 120 women founders taking part. Sessions will be facilitated by seasoned investors and ecosystem players, offering hands-on guidance in creating internationally competitive businesses.

Although Nigeria is one of the best startup ecosystems in Africa, women entrepreneurs still find it difficult to access funds and international recognition.

In partnership with The Nest, an innovation center in Lagos, the Aurora Tech Award aims to give women founders access to valuable networks and knowledge that can fuel their acceleration.

Aurora Tech Award Head Isabella Ghassemi-Smith said the program aims to equip women founders with tools, networks, and visibility to scale and compete on the international stage.

The past recipients of the award in Nigeria have included Folake Owodunni, Emergency Response Africa founder in 2024, and Solape Akinpelu, HerVest co-founder and CEO in 2025, showing the prowess of Nigerian women-founded businesses.

Solape pondered that not just finance but also a community supporting women in tech is what the Aurora Tech Award offers, acknowledging the contributions of women in creating the future.

The inDrive-founded Aurora Tech Award in 2021 seeks to reward and empower fearless women tech entrepreneurs from growing markets with funding, investor access, global networks, and exposure. In 2025, it had over 2,000 applications from 116 countries.

Nest Innovation Technology Park empowers entrepreneurs in Africa to convert ideas into scalable technology-based businesses.