Geeks On A Plane Take A Quick Stop At Nigeria

Yabacon Valley's hosting a group of investors on a 3-day tour.

Written by The Native - 20.Mar.2017

On first sight, Yaba doesn’t appear remarkably different from other buzzing metropolitan townships in Lagos. The symphony of shouting conductors, the ever-present car horns and piles of rubbish at road corners do nothing to differentiate from anywhere else. Yet between the run-down buildings in the seemingly inauspicious township, tech start-ups have taken root and created enough buzz to draw international venture capitalists and more established digital firms.

“Yabacon Valley” as it’s (un)fondly called by the techies in the area, has attracted the attention of Geeks On A Plane (GOAP). GOAP is an initiative by 500 Startups set up as a tour for investors and executives to learn about high-growth technology markets worldwide. In conjunction with Ingressive and the Africa Tech Foundation, 500 Startups kicked off the Lagos leg of their African tour with an official welcome event at the IBM Innovation Lab in Victoria Island, Lagos.

According to their schedule seen on their official website, they’d be in Lagos between March 20th-23rd 2017 to visit key hubs and startups in Yaba District Ecosystem. They’d also be meeting leading Nigerian actors and directors to discuss the growing film industry, digital distribution, monetization and content creation at a Nollywood media & tech party night. Their schedule also includes a VIP investment dinner organised as a platform to network with top-tier VCs and angel investors, while learning about the Nigerian investment ecosystem.
On an interesting note, they also intend to pay homage to Fela’s legacy at New Afrika Shrine before they leave for Ghana.

Yaba’s bubbling tech ecosystem gotten the attention of international businesses looking to invest in Nigeria. GOAP’s stop earmarks another win for the tech hub following Mark Zuckerberg’s visit last year.

Geeks On A Plane Take A Quick Stop At Nigeria

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