Teesas Startup Challenge Awards over ₦1m to 7 Winners

In Short

• Seven young entrepreneurs won over ₦1 million in the second Teesas Startup Challenge.
• The competition closed out Teesas Summer School’s Startup Spark 2.0 programme.
• Partners included Indomie and Tech4Dev, with sponsored slots for children aged 7 to 18.

What Happened

The Teesas Startup Challenge has awarded over ₦1 million in prizes to seven young entrepreneurs, according to reports. The prizes marked the finale of Startup Spark 2.0, a business idea competition run under the Teesas Summer School.

The programme is designed to help young people learn entrepreneurship, which means turning an idea into a real business that can earn revenue. Participants were guided through sessions covering leadership, technology, creativity, and how to pitch, which is a short presentation meant to convince judges or investors.

One entry route came through a collaboration between Indomie and Teesas Education. It offered five free slots for children aged 7 to 18. Applicants were asked to submit a 60-second video answering a practical question about starting a business that solves a local community problem.

Tech4Dev also supported participation by sponsoring 10 children from Makoko to attend the summer school. Makoko is a waterfront community in Lagos that is often described as underserved, meaning it has limited access to basic services and opportunities compared to other areas.

Teesas Summer School ran two cohorts, from July 20 to August 29. Each cohort ended with presentations where participants shared their ideas and progress.

Why It Matters

School-aged pitch competitions are becoming a clearer pipeline into Nigeria’s wider startup and builder ecosystem. They teach core skills early, like problem discovery, customer thinking, and public speaking.

They also show how corporate brands and nonprofits are increasingly funding talent development through sponsored slots and prizes, rather than only supporting university-level programmes.

For parents, educators, and ecosystem operators, the Teesas initiative is another example of how structured camps can move beyond coding classes into business formation, even at primary and secondary school ages. You can find more about Teesas on Liners.