Venture investors and Nigerian startup founders are testing a more targeted approach to investment sourcing, with Magna Collective arranging 61 one-to-one meetings between 16 investors and 26 startups at an event in Lagos recently.
The Investor Connection Drive was designed to improve deal flow by matching businesses with investors according to investment stage, cheque size and sector focus, rather than relying on conventional networking or unsolicited pitches.
Each investor reviewed and approved proposed matches before the event, giving founders a direct route to funders who had already expressed interest in discussing their businesses.
The model arrives at a time when Nigerian startup financing is recovering strongly, although the market remains dominated by a small number of large deals.
Africa: The Big Deal reported that Nigerian startups raised $635 million in the first nine months of 2026, more than double the amount recorded in the same period of 2025. The country ranked ahead of other African markets in aggregate funding, but only 77 startups raised at least $100,000. Moove’s $250 million transaction alone accounted for almost 40 per cent of the reported total.
Kelvin Umechukwu, co-founder and chief executive officer of commerce platform Bumpa, met four growth-stage investors during the programme.
“The fact that investors have already seen our documents and decided they want to talk to us makes the experience a lot different, more impactful, and direct,” he said.
Lexi Novitske, general partner at Norrsken22, said the pre-screened approach made the meetings more efficient and created opportunities to identify companies suitable for the firm’s pipeline.
“We don’t waste their time. They don’t waste our time. It’s quite efficient, and I think we met some incredible companies that’ll fit nicely into our pipeline,” Novitske said.
The participating companies span fintech, healthcare, artificial intelligence, logistics, energy, agriculture and education. More than two-thirds have women in leadership positions, while 11 have participated in Google-backed programmes, including Google for Startups Accelerator Africa, the Black Founders Fund and the Google AI Fund in collaboration with the National Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics.
Google for Startups, the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub and the Office for Nigerian Digital Innovation (ONDI) sponsored the initiative. The UK-Nigeria Tech Hub operates under the United Kingdom Government’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office, while ONDI is part of the National Information Technology Development Agency.
Folarin Aiyegbusi, head of startup ecosystem for Africa at Google, said the initiative supported a more structured route from founder introductions to investment. Oyinkan Akintola-Bello, director of the UK-Nigeria Tech Hub, said Nigerian entrepreneurs should also consider the United Kingdom’s capital markets when seeking financing.
Victoria Fabunmi, national coordinator of ONDI, said the programme enabled founders to engage multiple investors without the pressure often associated with conventional pitching.
Magna Collective plans to monitor follow-up discussions and capital commitments over the next six months and publish the findings. That exercise will provide a basis for assessing whether pre-screened meetings improve the conversion of investor interest into funding.
The programme was delivered with POV, SALG and Tech4Dev as delivery partners, with TechCabal as media partner.
Magna uses data from more than 24,000 Nigerian companies and proprietary artificial intelligence tools to connect founders, investors and other business partners. Its next report, The State of Early-Stage Venture in Nigeria, will examine which types of businesses reach $1 million in annual revenue and the factors that shape their growth.
The report will be launched alongside a live webinar on November 18, 2026. Registration is available through the webinar registration page, with further information at Magna Collective.
