One hundred founders came to Owerri. Within a year, nine companies emerged — building in LPG safety, mobility, health, commerce, agriculture, construction materials, travel and digital infrastructure. They pitched to UN Deputy Secretary-General Amina J. Mohammed, and showcased at GITEX Lagos.
These are the companies Founder Dojo Imo's first cohort produced.
Smarter tech, safer world
4First Technologies is an Owerri-based technology company building intelligent systems that take the guesswork out of everyday decisions. Its flagship product, the 4FG Smart Gas Monitor, sits under any LPG cylinder and sends a live gas level to your phone, alerts you before you run low, and reorders automatically from a vetted vendor marketplace — so you never cook in the dark again.
Every home deserves a digital address
Sneepha is a digital address solution for Africa. It gives every home, business or property a unique, government-verified digital address — a shareable Sneeph code that works offline, carries exact GPS coordinates, and can be sent by WhatsApp, SMS or QR — so people and deliveries can be found precisely in a country where most streets are unnamed.
Your ride, your price
WakaBid is a marketplace for rides. A rider says where they're going; nearby drivers send the fare they're willing to work for; and the rider picks the offer that suits them — a price agreed between the two people making the trip, never set by an algorithm or raised because it started to rain. WakaBid earns a commission on completed trips and runs its live pilot in Enugu today.
People connect life
LyfeBlood is a real-time platform that connects blood donors with the patients and hospitals who urgently need them — turning the search for a compatible match from a frantic scramble into a fast, coordinated response.
Verified once, trusted everywhere you sell
ShopCop is a verification layer that sits underneath Instagram, WhatsApp and TikTok. Vendors get verified once and carry a trusted profile — identity checked, with real reviews and a live fulfilment record — into every chat, so buyers stop hesitating and vendors stop re-proving they're legitimate to each new customer. Built-in order tracking keeps both sides updated through to delivery.
Prove where your product came from, before your buyer asks
OriginTrace is an all-in-one platform for supply-chain traceability, compliance and export readiness, built for African supply chains. It GPS-maps farms, captures collection data even offline, and scores a shipment against EU, UK, US, China and UAE rules before freight is booked — then generates the compliance documents and settles payment through escrow once the shipment is verified. The problem it solves isn't production; it's proof.
Nigeria, handled
Volkes is a private concierge and executive-travel service that handles your arrival in Nigeria from touchdown to destination. It meets you inside arrivals, handles your bags, tracks your flight in real time, and gets you where you're going with vetted drivers and 24/7 concierge support — turning an overwhelming airport arrival into a calm, cared-for one. Where your journey ends, your experience begins.
Premium WPC for modern Nigerian spaces
Alpha WPC Products is a Nigerian manufacturer of premium wood-plastic composite (WPC) — boards, decking, 3D wall panels, interiors and furniture that pair the warmth of wood with composite durability, resisting water, termites and rot where timber fails. From its facility in Imo State, Alpha transforms recycled plastic waste and sawdust into high-value building and interior products: turning waste into value.
Find the best services near you
Worka is a home-services marketplace that connects customers with verified, skilled professionals — plumbers, electricians, painters, carpenters, cleaners and more — through smart matching, trusted reviews and secure payments. It gives dependable service providers visibility and steady work, and gives customers a simple way to find, book and get the job done.
These nine companies all started the same way — as founders who applied. Cohort 2 is now open, and the next companies to come out of Owerri start here.
