The Federal Government has opened the application portal for the Student Venture Capital Grant (S-VCG), a funding initiative designed to support student-led innovations with up to ₦50 million in equity-free grants.
The announcement was made in a statement issued by the Director of Press and Public Relations at the Federal Ministry of Education, Boriowo Folasade.
The Minister of Education, Tunji Alausa, said the programme is aimed at discovering breakthrough ideas within Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
“The President has challenged us to look for the next Moonshot within our tertiary institutions. We are not just looking for projects; we are scouting for future Nigerian Unicorns whose roots will be planted right here in our universities and colleges. This is an equity-free seed investment in Nigeria’s future,” he said.
According to the Ministry, the scheme offers up to ₦50 million in equity-free grants to student founders with innovations in the STEMM fields, Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics and Medical Sciences.
The S-VCG, also called the STEMM Up Grant, is part of the Federal Government’s Renewed Hope Agenda and seeks to nurture student innovations into commercially viable, high-impact ventures.
Naijaonpoint reports that, first announced in July, the scheme formally commences on August 2.
The programme is specifically targeted at full-time undergraduate students in 300-level and above across accredited tertiary institutions in Nigeria.
Successful applicants will not only receive funding but also gain access to mentorship, incubation services and business development support to scale their ventures and deliver solutions to real-world problems.
The initiative is being implemented in partnership with the Bank of Industry to ensure transparency, accountability and measurable outcomes.
Beyond funding, selected student-led startups will benefit from intensive incubation programmes, mentorship from seasoned entrepreneurs and unrestricted access to tools and resources required to grow their businesses.
To strengthen the assessment process, the Ministry partnered with Google to integrate Gemini AI evaluation agents into the application portal.
Applicants will also receive a one-year Google Gemini Pro licence and access to premium learning resources to boost their technical and entrepreneurial capabilities.
The Ministry urged all eligible students to submit proposals that demonstrate scalability, market relevance and the potential to solve critical national or global challenges.
It added that students will begin their entrepreneurial journey with “top-tier global tools,” helping create a robust innovation pipeline from ideation to market-ready ventures.
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