2
More than 1,000 companies applied to the Cascador Africa’s 2026 ScaleUp cohort but only ten made it. Two of them solve problems at the heart of Nigeria’s food system.
Their selection is notable because the two companies are at very different stages of their journeys. So, what made these two agritech businesses stand out among more than 1,000 applicants? And what does Cascador see in them as they enter its 2026 ScaleUp programme?
What Cascador Africa Does
Cascador is a business growth programme for Nigerian entrepreneurs. It was launched in 2019 to help mid-stage, mission-driven companies scale, using a mix of education, mentoring and access to investors.
Since then, the programme has worked with 70 ventures. Together, those businesses have raised more than 125 million dollars in capital. In 2025 alone, Cascador’s alumni served more than 1.7 million customers across Nigeria.
Getting that kind of support matters because access to the right funding remains one of the biggest hurdles facing growing businesses across African agritech, and Cascador’s model is built to close that gap through mentorship first, then capital.
Why These Ten Companies Were Chosen
Cascador said this year’s cohort reflects a shift in its focus. Rather than picking startups on promise alone, the programme is now looking for growth-stage businesses with proven traction in what it calls the real economy.
We are excited to share with you
This FREE E-Book of 50 Agritech Pioneers & Their Game Changing Innovations.
Download the Ebook now
“The founders in our 2026 ScaleUp program reflect the ambition, resilience and entrepreneurial talent driving Nigeria’s economy forward,” said Trish Thomas, CEO of Cascador. She added that the focus now is helping them scale further, with training, mentorship and leadership support.
David DeLucia, co-founder of Cascador, described the moment as a turning point for Nigerian business. He said the next chapter of the country’s entrepreneurial story depends on what happens when proven businesses get the right support to grow.
Notably, 60 percent of this year’s cohort is led by women. The founders also come from five of Nigeria’s six geopolitical regions, a spread Cascador says was intentional.
The Ten Companies in the 2026 Cohort
The selected companies span several sectors. They are Venco, SunFi, ColdHubs, EHA Clinics, Beauty Hut Africa, BEYOND Fitness, Ziba Beach Resort, Tulay Africa, Maanj Agric and Finger Chops.
Between them, they cover proptech, clean energy, healthcare, beauty retail, wellness, tourism, minerals, food production and agriculture. Two of these companies, ColdHubs and Maanj Agric, operate in the agritech space, tackling different parts of Nigeria’s food supply chain.
ColdHubs: Solar Cold Rooms Cutting Food Waste
ColdHubs was founded in 2015 by Nnaemeka Ikegwuonu, in Owerri, Imo State. The idea came from the huge amounts of loss of fresh produce simply because there was no storage facility cool enough to store them.
The company builds solar-powered, walk-in cold rooms and places them inside busy markets. Each unit holds about three tonnes of produce and runs entirely off the grid, using batteries charged by sunlight during the day.
Traders do not need to own a fridge as they simply rent crate space inside a hub and pay a flat daily fee. This “pay-as-you-store” model has made cold storage affordable for people who could never have bought their own equipment.
The results have been significant. ColdHubs says its cold rooms extend the shelf life of fruit and vegetables from about two days to 21 days, cutting post-harvest losses by roughly 80 percent for the people who use them.
By 2017, the company ran 25 cold rooms across three states. By 2021, that had grown to 54 hubs in 22 states. By July 2025, marking ten years since launch, ColdHubs was running 58 hubs across 28 states, covering all six of Nigeria’s geopolitical zones.
Much of that growth has been funded through a mix of equity, grants and prizes rather than one large round. Key sources include:
- Factore Ventures, which took a 20 percent stake in the company around its 2015 launch
- The Heifer International AYuTe Africa Challenge, which ColdHubs won jointly in 2021, worth between 500,000 and 800,000 dollars for its share
- The UK aid and IKEA Foundation-backed Efficiency for Access Fund, which gave over 110,000 pounds toward a next-generation cold room design
- The Curt Bergfors Foundation’s Food Planet Prize, worth 2 million dollars, awarded in 2022
Most of ColdHubs’ hub operators on the ground are women. This is a deliberate part of the company’s model, and it fits a wider pattern among women-led agribusiness ventures across West Africa, where women often run the last mile of the food chain.
Maanj Agric: Linking Farmers to Finance and Markets
Maanj Agric is a younger company, founded in 2022 and based in Zaria, Kaduna State. Where ColdHubs solves a storage problem, Maanj Agric tackles a different set of gaps facing smallholder farmers.
The company connects farmers to input financing, storage services, market linkages and logistics support. In simple terms, it helps farmers get the seeds and tools they need, then helps them store and sell what they grow.
Maanj Agric works closely with research institutes to give farmers access to better seeds and soil management practices. The goal is to help farmers grow more, waste less, and earn more from every harvest.
Maanj Agric remains an early-stage business. Public records show it has not yet closed a formal funding round, which makes its selection for Cascador’s growth-stage cohort a notable step up. It is the kind of jump that many small agritech ventures hope to make once they prove their model works, much like the broader push toward digital farming tools now reshaping how smallholder businesses operate across the continent.
What Cascador’s Support Means Next
Being picked for the cohort is not just a badge. Companies in the 2026 programme get bespoke one-to-one support from investors and industry experts, plus access to Cascador’s Catalytic Fund.
That fund, runs in partnership with Sterling Bank, deploys up to 5 million dollars a year in growth capital through local currency debt, equity and guarantees. Founders also work toward a Live Pitch Day, where prizes worth 50,000 dollars are on offer.
For ColdHubs, already a decade into its journey, the programme offers a chance to sharpen its push into new markets beyond Nigeria. For Maanj Agric, still finding its footing, it offers something more basic: the mentorship and access that could turn a small Zaria-based startup into a serious regional player.
Both companies represent something Cascador has clearly decided to bet on. Nigeria’s food security problems will not be solved by a single idea or a single founder. They need many small, practical fixes working together, from cold storage in busy markets to financing reaching the farmers who need it most.
.webp&w=280&h=180)
