Where Africa's next founders are made.
Founder Dojo Imo is a world-class, zero-fee founder-development programme at Imo Digital City, backed by the Imo State Government. We develop ambitious people into founders who can build and scale real companies — with mentoring from Silicon Valley and a method proven across 82 countries.
Imo Digital City, Owerri
Zero fee
One year · Open across Nigeria
Next cohort
Cohort 2 · Applications open now
What Founder Dojo Imo Is
We build founders, not just startups.
Founder Dojo Imo is a one-year founder-development programme based at Imo Digital City in Owerri and backed by the Imo State Government. It is zero-fee and open to founders and aspiring founders across Nigeria.
It doesn't hand you a business plan. It develops how you think about problems, customers, uncertainty and your role as a founder. You can come with a startup, or with nothing but the drive to build one.
“The Founder Dojo isn't about startups, it's about building founders… think of it as a high-level gym for your founder skills.”
The Method
Applied learning, not lectures.
Hands-on challenges, real teams and real-time feedback that mirror the volatility of building a company. The method was developed with UC Berkeley's Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship and Technology and has been used with more than 5,000 founders across 82 countries.
Founder Mindset Bootcamp
Reset how you think about problems, customers, uncertainty and your role as a founder.
Opportunity Dojo
Hands-on challenges, real teams and real-time feedback that mirror the volatility of building a company.
Demo Day
Show what you built, and earn your place on global stages.
Founders move through structured intensives, each stage designed to sharpen judgement, strengthen execution, and prepare founders for international exposure.
Mentors & Global Exposure
Mentors who have done it themselves.
Your mentors are people who have launched, failed, pivoted and scaled companies themselves. In-person intensives at Imo Digital City are paired with remote mentoring from Silicon Valley, connecting founders in Owerri directly to the people and standards of the world's leading startup ecosystem. The strongest teams earn a place on global stages.
Owerri to Silicon Valley
In-person at Imo Digital City. Remote with founders from the world's leading startup ecosystem.
What It Produces
Judged by what its founders build.
In the first cohort, 100 founders came to Owerri and, within the year, nine startups emerged and pitched to UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, teams showcased at GITEX Lagos, and the top four earned a place at GITEX Dubai.
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founders came to Owerri
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startups pitched to UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed
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top teams earned a place at GITEX Dubai
The nine Cohort 1 companies
See the nine Cohort 1 companiesBuilding Founders At Scale
More than a single cohort.
It is a deliberate effort to make Imo State a place where founders are developed, companies are born, and talent that would otherwise leave finds a reason to build at home. Each cohort adds to a growing community of founders, mentors and companies — the foundation of a lasting startup ecosystem in the South-East.
Build at home
A lasting startup ecosystem in the South-East, one cohort at a time.
Backed By
A partnership built to last.
Founder Dojo Imo is a partnership of the Imo State Government, Imo Digital City, the Global Innovation Dojo and USMAC — who have worked with 5,000+ founders from 82 countries since 2011. Their tracked portfolio of 517 companies has raised $6.7B in follow-on funding, with 61 exits including 13 IPOs.
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founders worked with
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countries
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companies in the tracked portfolio
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exits, including 13 IPOs
Join the next cohort
Applications open ahead of each cohort. If you're ready to commit to a year of building, this is where you start.
Not the right time? Forward this to a founder who should be in the room.