If you’re a student with a business idea or innovation, especially in science, technology, engineering, mathematics or medical sciences the new Student Venture Capital Grant (S-VCG) launched by the Federal Ministry of Education offers a rare chance to transform that idea into a fully-funded startup. The scheme provides equity-free grants, incubation support, and tools to help student ventures scale and become market-ready.
What the Grant Offers & Benefits
- Up to ₦50 million in equity-free funding for successful student-led ventures.
- Access to incubation programmes, including mentoring by experienced entrepreneurs and industry experts.
- Tools, platforms, and resources to build and scale your startup technology support and business development assistance.
- Free 1-year licence to advanced AI resources (through a partnership with Google) for applicants, providing a technological edge.
- Support for rapid validation and scaling from concept to a viable enterprise with market readiness, under a structured ecosystem.
Eligibility Criteria
- Must be a student enrolled in a recognised tertiary institution in Nigeria (public or private university, polytechnic, or college of education).
- Target projects must fall within STEMM fields: Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, or Medical Sciences.
- Proposals should show scalability, market-relevance, and real-world impact potential.
- Students can apply individually or in teams; a registered business name (CAC-registered) may be required before funding disbursement.
How to Apply & Application Process
- Go to the official portal: svcg education
- Create an account : you’ll need personal info (name, email, NIN), student verification (school ID or admission letter), and details about your institution and course.
- Prepare a project proposal outlining your innovation, target problem, solution, business model, scalability plan, and expected impact.
- Upload required documents and if requested a brief pitch video.
- If selected, you’ll go through incubation, mentorship, and milestone-based funding disbursement.
