How Cascador’s acceleration and funding program differs from YC and others

Cascador, an impact-focused accelerator for growth-stage founders in Africa, announced $5 million in equity and debt funding to seven startups at Pitch Day 2026, which was held on June 3, 2026, in Lagos, Nigeria.

“In just two years, Pitch Day has awarded more than $9M to growth-stage African founders, helping to build a new generation of entrepreneurs equipped to scale transformative businesses,” said Dave DeLucia, Founder of Cascador.

Pitch Day happens at the end of every Cascador ScaleUp program cycle, which spans about 12 weeks. This year’s event brought together more than 300 investors, media representatives, and ecosystem builders for conversations with founders scaling impactful companies across Nigeria. Unlike Y Combinator’s Demo Day, where only the latest batch of startups can pitch, Cascador allows its alumni from other batches to participate. Thereby extending the value of the program beyond the current season, till when the alumni might be ready for scale-up capital. On the flip side, this also means that not every recent batch participant will get to pitch, unlike YC. One of the two equity beneficiaries from the Cascador Pitch Day 2026 event was from another cohort, Stears.

“Back in 2021, I joined Cascador with the intention of learning how to be a better leader…When we pivoted exclusively to financial data in 2023, the Cascador team was there again, supporting us as we learned the B2B ropes. On Wednesday at Pitch Day, what started as an educational opportunity became something more tangible as Cascador invested $450k in equity to back our growth,” said Stears co-founder and CEO, Preston Ideh.

Other acceleration programmes tend to have standard deals, funding type and amount, which can prove sub-optimal for some startups. For instance, the leading global accelerator invests $500,000 for 7% equity in the business. However, Cascador, through its $5M Catalytic Fund, tailors the financing to the needs of the business. The Fund can provide debt, equity, guarantees, and collateral support in partnership with Sterling Bank. Of the seven 2026 fund recipients, two got equity deals: Stears (Preston Ideh) with $450,000 and Indigenius AI (Yinka Iyinolakan) with $250,000, while the remaining five got debt funding deals of ₦2.5 billion ($1.7M) to Agriarche (Deina Mayaki), ₦2.5 billion ($1.4M) to Koolboks (Deborah Gael), ₦1.8 billion ($1.2M) to Powerstove (Okey Esse), ₦500 million ($357k) to First Electric (Daniel Komolafe), and ₦200M ($142K) to Fortics (Femi Oyewole).

Deina Mayaki of Agriarche, the largest funding recipient from the 2026 Catalytic Fund, shared her experience, “Cascador’s ScaleUp program built upon my team’s ability to translate learning into action by helping us refine our message and market position, adjust our funding strategy, and adapt without defensiveness. The Catalytic Fund due diligence team assessed Agriarche’s financial strength, resourcefulness, and track record of success, and they rewarded our high-potential for scale and impact today by awarding a new ₦2.5B credit facility to power our growth.”

Not every startup that begins an acceleration programme can complete it, as the realities of running a business and the intensity of the programme conflict. In 2025, eleven startups began the Cascador ScaleUp Program, but one, Chekkit, dropped.

Application for Cascador’s 2026 ScaleUp is still open

Since 2019, it has supported 70 companies that have collectively raised more than $125 million. All eyes are now set on the programme’s next cohort. “We’re now looking for the next cohort of exceptional founders to join our 2026 ScaleUp program and hope to see them on stage at the next Pitch Day,” DeLucia said.

Applications for the 2026 ScaleUp Program are open until June 15, 2026, as pre-program preparations begin on August 17, 2026. The programme covers logistics for selected founders, offers a $5,000 stipend upon successful completion, and $50,000 in pitch prizes awarded at Pitch Day.

The Judges for the Pitch Day prizes were Iyin ‘E’ Aboyeji of Future Africa and Nneke Eze of Vested World, and Daniel Adeoye of Verod Capital Management. Speaking about his experience with Cascador, Adeoye said, “Two years judging Pitch Day, plus a season as faculty for the Cascador ScaleUp program, taught me something the term sheets never capture: capital readiness, not capital, is what turns funding into scale. The founders on stage today walk away with customer pipelines, team training, mentorship, and bespoke support, the connective tissue that lets them multiply what they raise. This is not an accelerator. It is ecosystem architecture, and these founders are its proof.”

In addition to investment capital, two entrepreneurs received recognition for innovation and pitch quality. The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) Prize for Innovation awarded $10,000 to Indigenius AI, while Koolboks received $10,000 for the Best Pitch, awarded by the panel of judges.

Last updated: June 8, 2026