Position
A research and advisory firm developing venture-building frameworks from the African context — deployed globally through proprietary technology.
Who We Are
A research and advisory firm built from the African context.
SDC studies how founders in Africa build companies, the contexts they operate in, and the strategies that actually work, then translates those insights into models that founders, institutions, and ecosystem builders can use anywhere on earth.
Mission
To develop and disseminate the frameworks, models, and applied knowledge that equip founders anywhere with a structured path from idea to scalable venture.
Vision
A world where the knowledge infrastructure for building a venture is built from African realities — and exportable to any market on earth.
Why SDC
Why SDC is Uniquely Positioned to Deliver Founder and Innovation Infrastructure
01
Design + Delivery (Not Just Advisory)
SDC moves from research to execution. We design programme architecture and deliver it end-to-end, applicant recruitment, selection, execution, reporting. ₦145M+ in grants and prizes distributed across delivered programmes.
02
Research-Grounded Architecture
Every programme begins with research, not a template. SDC builds frameworks from African market realities first, then tests whether they travel, rather than adapting imported models after the fact.
03
Institutional Structuring Expertise
Five distinct offerings — Programme Delivery, SDC OS Deployment, Research & Data, Advisory, and Training & Capacity Development — matched to what governments, DFIs, corporates, and universities each actually need.
04
Proven Delivery at Scale
8,000+ programme applications and 7,500+ founders reached across delivered engagements with MTN, Africa Technology Expo, and Futurize Global, across fintech, healthtech, agritech, edtech, and cleantech.
05
Capability Transfer
Where partners want ownership of execution, SDC trains internal teams to design and run their own programmes institutional strengthening in innovation management, not one-off facilitation.
Research Focus Areas
Four areas where SDC builds original knowledge.
SDC's primary work is the development of frameworks and models for venture building in the African context. Our innovation drives, programs, and community tools are the vehicles through which these frameworks are adopted, tested, and refined in practice.
01
Founder Identification & Profiling
SDC researches how to distinguish between individuals building SMEs and those building startups — and what distinguishes high-potential founders at the earliest stage. Includes SDC's proprietary Founder Personality Assessment framework.
Output: Founder profiling methodology; assessment tools
02
Venture-Building Models for Global Markets
We study how startups are actually built in African contexts and develop frameworks that reflect those realities. We then test whether those models travel to other markets — producing universally applicable knowledge from African intellectual foundations.
Output: African venture-building framework; stage-gate models
03
SME-to-Startup Transition Pathways
SDC has developed a structured model for helping SME founders understand whether and how to transition from lifestyle business thinking to startup thinking — a largely unexplored area where SDC holds a unique intellectual position.
Output: SME-to-Startup transition framework; readiness criteria
04
Ecosystem Intelligence & Outcome Tracking
We track and publish data on the state of primary startup education across Africa and globally — including founder outcome data, program completion rates, and longitudinal tracking of SDC alumni through SDC OS.
Output: Annual State of Startup Education report; global outcome datasets
06 · WHO WE SERVE
Institutional partners across four sectors.
Corporate & Private Sector
Companies seeking to engage the African startup ecosystem — as employers of founder talent, sponsors of innovation programmes, or deployers of corporate startup education initiatives through SDC OS.
Framework integration · Corporate innovation · Co-deployment · Sponsored research
Government & Public Institutions
National and state government agencies, technology development bodies, and ministries seeking to strengthen primary startup education infrastructure — domestically and across borders.
Advisory · Curriculum design · Ecosystem strategy · Framework licensing
Development Finance & Foundations
DFIs, international foundations, and philanthropic organisations seeking to fund or co-produce original research on venture building and primary startup education in Africa and globally.
Research collaboration · Impact measurement · Co-funded programmes · Evidence production
Academic & Research Institutions
Universities, research centres, and knowledge institutions seeking to build startup education programmes or co-produce research on entrepreneurship and founder development from non-Western contexts.
Research collaboration · Curriculum licensing · Co-authorship · Faculty advisory
₦145M+
Grants & Prizes Awarded
Distributed through SDC-delivered programmes.
10,000+
Programme Applications
Across SDC-delivered accelerator and cohort programmes.
7,500+
Founders Reached
Through SDC-supported founder education and training tracks.
5+
Programmes Delivered
Spanning fintech, healthtech, agritech, edtech, and cleantech.
“Africa does not have a talent problem — it has an opportunity gap. SDC's job is to close that gap, one well-trained founder at a time.”
Selected proof
Projects delivered across the SDC portfolio.
These projects show how the five partnership offerings translate into real delivery across founder education, accelerator design, research-backed execution, and institutional support.
Project 01 · MTN Nigeria
The GatheriNG Pitchathon
Full programme design and delivery across Lagos, Enugu, and Aba.
- Lagos edition awarded ₦45M across 8 startups selected from 30 participants.
- Winners: HubPharm Africa (₦15M), Coconoto Ltd (₦10M), RavaSend (₦5M), plus five ₦3M consolation awards.
- Programme expanded to Aba, extending SDC's delivery reach beyond Lagos.
30
Startups pitched
8
Funded
₦45M
Awarded
3
Cities
Ready to scope something similar?
Bring us the mandate and we will shape the delivery.
If your institution needs a delivered programme, a platform, knowledge, strategic direction, or capability transfer, we can structure the engagement around that outcome.