CcHUB backed 3,312 African startups with $4.18m in 2025

Co-creation Hub (CcHUB), a Lagos-based innovation hub that supports African startups through funding, accelerators, and ecosystem programs, disbursed $4.18 million to 3,312 ventures across 49 African countries in 2025. This is according to its 2025 impact report released this week.

For every dollar the organisation put in, the startups it backed raised five more from outside investors, unlocking roughly $20 million in external funding. Since its inception, CcHUB has deployed a total of $17.1 million, with its portfolio companies attracting $170 million in outside funding over the same period.

The report also shows the organisation trained 25,245 individuals in new skills, reached 1.89 million people through its programs and portfolio, and helped 544 people land new jobs across the continent.

The organisation worked with 70 higher education institutions across Nigeria, Kenya, and Namibia, and disbursed $300,000 to student innovators since 2022, with 18 student businesses registered through its Startup-in-Residence program.

Where the funding went and what it produced

Rather than focusing on fintech where most African startup capital tends to flow, CcHUB’s funding was deliberately concentrated in three sectors: health, education, and the creative industries. Managing Director, Ojoma Ochai, said the choice reflects where technology can drive the largest structural change.

“Africa prospers when education outcomes improve, when people can access quality healthcare, and when livelihoods become more resilient,” she said.

In health, nine startups tested AI solutions in real government digital systems instead of just simulations. Within nine months, they developed six health products that work together. After the program ended, two of these products attracted outside investment.

Among them was God’s Eye by Eight Medical, which uses AI to assess emergency urgency, dispatch the nearest ambulance, and track real-time hospital bed availability through mobile, WhatsApp, USSD, and voice. Mediloan by MyItura embedded AI-powered credit decisioning at the point of care, allowing patients to receive treatment immediately while providers get paid.

It onboarded 25 primary healthcare facilities and processed $16,000 in credit requests by the end of 2025. CcHUB also contributed to a Digital Health Roadmap for Kwara State, now with the state government, covering 3.5 million residents.

In education, 15 new EdTech products were launched, 27 startups were accelerated across Nigeria and Kenya, and 2,000 teachers were connected to peer learning and classroom tools.

Two student-built products stood out: LeAi, an AI-powered sprint-learning platform with 3,000 beta users, and Okaluli, a WhatsApp-based learning tool for students in rural areas without computer access, which delivered over 300,000 messages to 2,400 active users.

Read also: CcHUB, Mastercard Foundation launch $100k fellowship for EdTech startups

In the creative industries, 640 women launched or scaled ventures across 16 cohorts covering fashion, film, music, and design.

Chpter, a WhatsApp-based business sales tool from Kenya, entered CcHUB’s Spark Accelerator with a working product and left with partnerships with Safaricom, ABSA Bank, and Co-operative Bank, expanded into Uganda, Nigeria, and Tanzania, and raised $1 million.

Koolboks, a cold storage startup, came through CcHUB’s Global Cleantech Innovation Program and later closed an $11 million Series A. Nawiri, a fashion brand backed through the Fashionomics Africa Accelerator, grew revenue from $12,000 to a forecast of $140,000 by 2025 after restructuring its pricing.

The model behind the multiplier

Ochai said the 5x funding ratio did not happen by accident.

“That ratio exists because we spent years building the credibility, the pipelines, and the institutional relationships that make our portfolio legible and attractive to external capital,” she said.

For Ochai, funding alone is not enough.

“Founders need capital, but they also need product refinement, market access, institutional credibility, and distribution pathways,” she said.

“At the core of our work is building the conditions that make all five work together,” she added.

The 1.89 million people reached through CcHUB’s portfolio, in contrast to the 25,245 it directly trained, illustrates the organisation’s purpose; this difference signifies that the ecosystem is functioning as intended.

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