Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) in partnership with Founder Institute (FI) is set to launch new 17 portfolio companies that have passed through the Board’s Technology Incubation and Innovation Centre (TIIC). The move is part of the board’s mandate to catalyze research and development and support startups in the energy industry. Expected at the launch which is billed to hold on August 24, 2023, at the Nigerian Content Tower, Oxbow Lake Road, Yenagoa, are international and local venture capitalists, investors, and product development subject matter experts interested in investing or partnering the new portfolio companies.
Key highlights of the event, according to the NCDMB Corporate Communications, will be the pitching by the founders on their business ideas, with the hope of eliciting the interest of investors. The NCDMB, in a statement, in Yenagoa, described the launch of the new portfolio companies as a major milestone of the Board’s R&D strategy anchored on commercialisation of research and innovation. Speaking on the initiative, the Executive Secretary NCDMB, Engr. Simbi Kesiye Wabote explained, “the Board deploys an end-to-end strategy in its projects and does not relent until ideas that it supports are fully deployed, commercialised and begin to solve societal problems. Some of the solutions proposed by the founders will impact key sectors of the economy beyond the oil and gas sector.
“These are innovative solutions to everyday problems that we face in the country. Nigerian youths are innovative and creative. They are looking for a platform they can get and NCDMB will be that platform.” Also, the Director of Planning, Research and Development, NCDMB, Alhalji Abdulmalik Halilu explained that Founder Institute (FI) was engaged by the Board in December 2022 as a partner in product development. According to him, “the 17 incubates represent a spectrum of fields in the energy sector and data management, including Renewable Energy, Geological and Geophysical, Local Materials substitution, Health, Safety, & Environmental, and Engineering. Other areas are Technology Development, Pipeline Monitoring Systems, Artificial Intelligence.”
