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Rize-Entrepreneurial-Competition Nigeria for women led businesses.

Leadership for Africans. By Africans. Of Africans.

Rize.

because audacity looks good on us!

Fueling Women-Led Innovation in Africa

Rize is a bold pilot entrepreneurial competition brought to you by Diversify and BLab Africa. It is designed to spotlight and support women-led businesses and start-ups with transformative ideas. Whether you’re crafting handmade goods with a social mission, building a climate-resilient solution, or innovating in the creative economy — Rize is for you.

This nearly 100% digital initiative will leverage the power of social media and community engagement to discover, amplify, and fund early-stage ideas that are shaping Africa from the ground up.

We’re seeking visionary women whose business ideas are grounded in:

🌍 Climate or social justice
🖐🏾 Products that are 100% made in Africa
💡 Innovations with a strong social impact edge

Diversify - Come As You Are -Black Logo

Diversify

Diversify is a global non-profit organization that works on 4 core pillars: Health & Wellbeing; Economic Justice; Migration, Society & Integration and Global Issues & Inequality. We prioritizes co-creating solutions with the communities we serve, sharing power, and cultivating cross-sector partnerships to deliver sustainable change that aligns with the unique needs and aspirations of people and planet.

Diversify Come As You Are Logo

Diversify

Diversify is a global non-profit organization that works on 4 core pillars: Health & Wellbeing; Economic Justice; Migration, Society & Integration and Global Issues & Inequality. We prioritizes co-creating solutions with the communities we serve, sharing power, and cultivating cross-sector partnerships to deliver sustainable change that aligns with the unique needs and aspirations of people and planet.

BLab Africa

BLab Africa is a non-profit driving economic systems change by advancing stakeholder governance and responsible business across the continent. We certify high impact organisations as B Corporations we support businesses to measure what matters, embed purpose at their core, and create long-term value for people, communities, and the planet.

How it works

Call for Applications: We announce the competition on our social media platforms, inviting women in Nigeria to apply.

Interested participants fill out a short form, sharing their business idea and other details.

Our team will review submissions and select the top 10 applicants.

The 10 finalists will join two virtual pitch practice sessions to refine their ideas and prepare for the live event.

Finalists will pitch their business ideas live on Instagram or TikTok. Audience members and partner organizations will be able to ask questions during the session.

The recorded pitch session will be shared on our social media channels. The public will vote to help determine the top 3 winners.

The top 10 will be celebrated in person in Lagos, Nigeria.

All 10 participants will be invited to join digital business development workshops in October.

Pilot Program

In this pilot in Nigeria, selected winners will receive equity-free funding, hands-on business support, and tailored mentorship — to support their business.

But Rize is more than a competition. It’s the beginning of a movement — to unleash the power of women to shape Africa’s next chapter. One built on sustainability, justice, accountability, and care.

We’re here to back brilliance and audacity, not just ideas. To grow businesses that serve people and the planet. And to show that when women rise, entire communities do too.

Timeline

Deadline to apply: August 8

Top 10 announced: August 13

Live pitching: August 25

Voting Period: August 25 to September 2

What Participants Receive

1st Place wins ₦1,500,000 + 6 hours of mentorship

2nd Place wins ₦750,000 + 4 hours of mentorship

3rd Place wins ₦500,000 + 3 hours of mentorship

4th - 10th Place wins ₦250,000 + 1 hour of mentorship

In person professional development workshop with Kemi ++ in Lagos, circa early September.

In addition, the top 3 winners will have an opportunity to be invited as featured guests on the Overnight Wisdom podcast.

All 10 selected participants will also have the opportunity to join our business development workshops in October 2025.

Rules & Terms of Participation

Please make sure you meet all the following:

  1. Your business is founded or co-founded by a woman.
  2. Your business is based in Nigeria.
  3. You are willing and able to pitch your business live on TikTok or Instagram.
  4. Make sure you’re following all the required accounts on either TikTok or Instagram (or both).
    • We’re exploring whether Instagram or TikTok is best for the live pitch. Final platform will be announced soon.

Instagram
@diversify.global
@blabafrica
@chisom.ebi

Application Form (If form below doesn't work)

Rize.

because audacity looks good on us!

Chisom Udeze

Founder of Diversify, Diversify Consult, HerSpace & The Annual

Chisom is an Economist, a Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging (DEIB) Strategist, and a 3 times founder of impact driven companies. She has over 14 years of experience working with organizations like the European Commission, The United Nations, ExxonMobil and The Economist Group. Chisom is analytical and a data enthusiast. She is passionate about interrogating the cross-sectoral relationship between society’s inhabitants, resources, production, technology, distribution and output. She efficiently and effectively unlocks complex systems, interprets data, forecasts socio-economic trends and conducts research.

Having lived and worked in 7 countries across 3 continents, she is highly adaptable to different circumstances and people, and thrives in uncertain environments.

As the founder of Diversify and Diversify Consult, Chisom and her team work with companies, institutions, governments and civil society to develop sustainable DEIB strategies and embed measurable diversity and inclusion initiatives in the workplace and society. In addition, in 2022, Diversify launched the Diversify Nordics Summit, the largest conference in the Nordics that gathers cross-sectoral stakeholders to amplify DEIB in the Nordics and beyond.

In 2020, she founded HerSpace, a diverse and inclusive co-creation community for all genders, with particular focus on women and non-binary people. In 2022, HerSpace launched HerTech, Women in Tech incubator, for women-led companies, with a focus on the inclusion of diverse founders. 

Chisom is a thought-leader in DEIB and a passionate advocate for mental health and wellness. She writes often on DEIB and justice related topics, some of her work is published on Forbes.