Cascador expands support for startups with $5m

Cascador has deployed over $5m to seven growth-stage African startups, backing founders building socially impactful businesses as part of its second annual Pitch Day.

The Africa-focused growth platform on Wednesday in Lagos brought together over 300 investors, lenders, mentors and ecosystem builders for the event, which culminates Cascador’s Catalytic Fund deployment cycle.

The 2026 Catalytic Fund recipients are Agriarche (Deina Mayaki), $1.7m (N2.5bn debt); Koolboks (Deborah Gael), $1.4m (N2bn debt); Powerstove (Okey Esse), $1.2m (N1.8bn debt) and First Electric (Daniel Komolafe), $357,000 (N500m debt). Others are Fortics (Femi Oyewole), $142,000 (N200m debt); Stears (Preston Ideh), $450,000 equity; and Indigenius AI (Yinka Iyinolakan), $250,000 equity.

The founder of Agriarche, Deina Mayaki, the largest single recipient, who received a new $1.7m (N2.5bn) credit facility, said Cascador’s ScaleUp programme built upon his “team’s ability to translate learning into action by helping us refine our message and market position, adjust our funding strategy, and adapt without defensiveness.”

Indigenius AI won the $10,000 NSIA Prize for Innovation, while Koolboks took the judges’ $10,000 Best Pitch award.

“The Catalytic Fund due diligence team assessed Agriarche’s financial strength, resourcefulness, and track record of success, and they rewarded our high potential for scale and impact today by awarding a new N2.5bn credit facility to power our growth,” he noted.

The fund offers up to $5m annually in customised debt and equity support to ScaleUp alumni.

During this year’s Pitch Day, finalists were chosen after presentations by seven founders and were judged based on their capacity to effectively utilise and expand capital, leverage educational resources and networks, and create social impact, including job creation and services for underserved communities.

“This year’s Pitch Day awarded capital to innovators who have demonstrated both traction and potential to scale.

“In just two years, Pitch Day has awarded more than $9m to growth-stage African founders, helping to build a new generation of entrepreneurs equipped to scale transformative businesses. We’re now looking for the next cohort of exceptional founders to join our 2026 ScaleUp programme,” Cascador founder Dave DeLucia said.

Speaking during a panel session on “Innovative Capital Deployment Structures in Nigeria”, Daniel Ayoede of Verod, who served as faculty for the ScaleUp programme and as a Pitch Day judge, said, “Two years judging Pitch Day, plus a season as faculty for the Cascador ScaleUp programme, taught me something the term sheets never capture: capital readiness, not capital, is what turns funding into scale.

“The founders on stage today walk away with customer pipelines, team training, mentorship, and bespoke support, the connective tissue that lets them multiply what they raise. This is not an accelerator. It is ecosystem architecture, and these founders are its proof.”

Other members of the panel were Idris Bello of LoftyInc Capital, Danladi Verheijen of Verod Capital, Darlington Nwankwo of Sterling Bank, Ada Osakwe of Agrolay Ventures and Nuli, and Ijeoma Taylaur of NSIA.

According to the Chief Executive Officer of Cascador, Trish Thomas, the ScaleUp programme strengthens leadership, strategy and readiness to scale.

She added that since 2019, it has supported 70 companies that have collectively raised more than $125m.

A former beneficiary of the firm’s fund, Babatunde Akin-Moses of Sycamore, described his commercial paper raise as “oversubscribed by 230 per cent,” while Drive45’s Seyi Adefemi said Cascador helped the company “cross the gap” between potential and scale.

According to the firm, applications for the 2026 ScaleUp Programme remain open until June 15 for growth-stage CEOs across Sub-Saharan Africa seeking capital, networks and operational support.