Obaseki’s Tech Reforms Excite Ikhine, As Two Startups Get 1m Grant

Impressed by the impact of Governor Godwin Obaseki’s reforms in building a vibrant technology and innovation community at the Edo Innovation Hub, a former governorship aspirant of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Engr. Gideon Ikhine has offered a grant of N1 million to two start-ups at the technology hub.

Engr. Ikhine made the offer during a tour of the businesses and services offered at the multi-location facilities of the Edo State Skills Development Agency (EdoJobs), in Benin City.

He said he was impressed by the enthusiasm displayed by youths at the centre, noting that Governor Obaseki’s support for youths and entrepreneurship was quite commendable and unprecedented.

The startups that benefited from Engr. Ikhine’s N1m offer are Team Fluffy, which seeks to digitise the cake making business and Quill Books, a startup working on an online library idea at the hub. Each of the teams got N500, 000.

Members of Team Fluffy include Osarumwense Odigie,

Agbonyinma Nosakhare, Ohwojeheri Triumph, Umeobi Jacinta, Ayeni Sylvester and Faithful Owhojeri.

For Quill Books, the team has Omokaro Precious, Glory Obasi, Odeh Jeremiah, Otakhor Annette, Showunmi Samson and Anna Edokpolor.

The Edo Innovation Hub is a cluster for innovators and inventors in Benin City and is priming youth to evolve and strengthen the state’s technology ecosystem.

The hub hosts the South-South Innovation Hub with two halls, five training rooms, six fully-furnished co-working spaces, four rooms with a total of 100 computers, offices, conference rooms, outdoor workspaces, among others.

It has hosted training sessions by Microsoft and Tech4Dev; LinkedIn MeetUp sessions; Curators University’s Artificial Intelligence boot camp; Hotels.NG training on coding and application development and Makers Academy training on robotics.

It also serves as Pan Atlantic University’s Enterprise Development Centre in Benin City; hosts Siemens’ Impact Hub, and Microsoft’s Basic Digital Literacy for Teachers programme.