In early September, at GITEX Nigeria 2026, West Africa's largest technology gathering, held at the Landmark Centre in Lagos alongside global names like IBM, MTN and Cisco, a company called Alpha WPC Products drew a crowd.

Investors stopped at the stand. So did industry leaders and potential partners, wanting to understand what the team was building: a way to turn recycled plastic waste and sawdust into high-value wood-plastic composite, sustainable building materials made for tropical markets. Its CEO, Chukwuemeka Onuoha, spent the day in back-to-back conversations with investors and strategic partners.

A few stands away, 4First Technologies was demonstrating the 4FG-Monitor, an IoT device that tracks gas-cylinder levels in real time, and fielding pitch-deck requests from investors including Resilience17 and MarlVC. WakaBid, still in testing, had visitors asking to sign up on the spot. Volkes was drawing interest from partners wanting premium airport concierge for travellers landing in Lagos.

Eight months earlier, every one of these companies had been an application. Among more than 600.

This was the assumption we set out to challenge: that serious companies get built somewhere else.

In Lagos. In Nairobi. In San Francisco. Anywhere, it can seem, but here. Founder Dojo Imo was built to prove otherwise, and these are only some of the nine companies now emerging from its first cohort. This is the story of how far they have come, how quickly, and what happens next.

Built Here

Founder Dojo Imo is a founder development programme, a public-private partnership between the Imo State Government, Imo Digital City Limited (IDCL), and Global Innovation Dojo, a venture from the team behind the US Market Access Center. The programme is powered by USMAC, a startup development company with experience across 80 countries and 5,000 founders, and built on the pedagogy of UC Berkeley's Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology, home of the globally recognised Berkeley Method of Entrepreneurship.

The backing of the Imo State Government is not incidental to this story. It is what makes it possible. A programme of this ambition exists because the State chose to invest in building something durable: a home-grown startup ecosystem in Imo State, and a pipeline of globally competitive companies built from within it.

From 600 Applications to 9 Startups

The companies emerging today did not arrive here by chance. They are what remained after a deliberate, demanding funnel, one designed to select not for polish, but for potential.

In January 2026, we were not selecting for finished products or seasoned entrepreneurs. We were selecting for one thing: raw coachability, the willingness to be wrong, to rebuild, and to keep going. Everything else can be taught. That cannot.

What followed was not a seminar. Across three phases, Mindset, Opportunity, and Solution, founders were pushed out of the classroom to engage real users, validate real problems, and turn them into products and business models. Teams reshaped. Ideas pivoted. Not everyone made it through, and that was never the goal. The goal was companies that could stand on their own.

The Proof: Global Eyes at GITEX

If the programme's purpose was to build companies that could compete beyond Imo State, GITEX Nigeria 2026 was the first real test, and the cohort passed it in public.

4First Technologies exhibited the 4FG-Monitor to a global audience and left with concrete investor interest: pitch-deck requests from Resilience17, MarlVC, and an investor from Abia State. For the team, the lesson went beyond the leads.

“GITEX gave us visibility, validation, valuable connections, and the confidence that the solution we have built has the potential to compete on a much larger stage.”
 — 4First Technologies

For WakaBid, still pre-launch, the validation was immediate: investors and delegates asked to sign up on the spot. The team came away focused on what the conversations revealed.

“Building a great product is only one part of the journey; building the right partnerships, understanding the market and continuously listening to users are equally important.”
 — WakaBid

And for Volkes, the experience recalibrated what its founder believed was possible, for the company, and for the region.

“Observing the standard set by organizations operating at this level confirmed that our ambitions, both for Volkes and for what can be built out of Imo State and the South-East, are neither misplaced nor overstated.”
 — Emmanuel Chijiaku, CEO, Volkes

A Call the Region Should Answer

A theme ran through the founders' reflections, unprompted and consistent: the South-East should not have to send its founders elsewhere to be seen. Volkes put it most directly, that Imo State, through IDCL, is well positioned to host an event of comparable calibre, so founders can achieve close to home what they travelled to Lagos to find. WakaBid echoed it, calling for more indigenous investors backing indigenous ideas.

We hear it, and we affirm it. Building the ecosystem is the whole point: not only training founders, but creating the platforms, the investor networks, and the stage the South-East has long exported. That work is already underway, and there is more to come. Consider this a commitment on the record.

What Happens Next: Demo Day, 15 September

The journey reaches its next milestone on Monday, 15 September 2026, when the cohort takes the stage for Demo Day at Imo Digital City Limited, 23 Egbu Road, Owerri. Nine companies. One stage. The founders who began as one-minute pitches will show what eight months of building has produced, and where they go from here.

If you are an investor, a partner, a mentor, or simply someone who wants to see what is being built in Imo State, you are invited. And if you cannot be in the room, stay close to this space. What comes out of 23 Egbu Road on 15 September is the beginning of the next chapter, not the end of this one.

Over 600 believed it was possible. Nine companies are now proving it. The next proof arrives on 15 September.

Meet the Companies

Nine ventures, each a structured response to a real problem across Nigeria, West Africa and beyond, spanning climate tech, deep tech and IoT, healthtech, digital public infrastructure, mobility and commerce.

Why This Matters

Ambition was never the scarce resource in Imo. This state has never lacked for people with ideas, drive, or the willingness to work. What has been missing is the machinery that turns ambition into enterprise: structure, mentorship, company formation, and an institution willing to stand behind founders while they build. The backing that founders in other places take for granted.

That is the work Imo Digital City exists to do. Not a course that ends with a certificate, but a foundation companies are built on. Several of these ventures are already live, shipping products, and drawing real investor interest, the proof of demand today's backers care about most. And this is only the first cohort. Three more will follow.

An Open Invitation to Investors and Partners

These nine companies are now entering venture development, refining products, deepening market validation, and preparing for investment. The interest is already real, and it was visible on the floor at GITEX. For local and international investors, partners and collaborators looking to back bold, early-stage innovation solving real problems in Nigeria and West Africa, this is where to look, and 15 September is where to start.

Learn more at founderdojoimo.com.

About IDCL

Imo Digital City Limited (IDCL) is a premier innovation and technology hub driving digital transformation, talent development and entrepreneurship across Imo State and Africa. Founder Dojo Imo is delivered in partnership with the Imo State Government, the US Market Access Center (USMAC), and UC Berkeley's Sutardja Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology.