Grace Ashiru
Nigeria’s technology story has always been written from Lagos. A Demo Day in Ilorin is making the case that the next chapter belongs somewhere else.
IHS Nigeria has partnered with the Ilorin Innovation Hub to host the maiden edition of its Demo Day, themed “The Convergence,” spotlighting 19 emerging startups that have participated in the hub’s accelerator and incubation programmes. The event brought together investors, venture capital funds, corporate partners, government officials, and media to assess early-stage companies building solutions across agriculture, healthtech, green energy, lifestyle, and digital services
The Ilorin Innovation Hub is a partnership between the Kwara State Government and IHS Nigeria. It began operations in February 2025 with programmes managed by Co-creation Hub and Future Africa, and covers a land area of over 13,000 square metres with seating capacity for more than 1,000 users, described as the largest technology space of its kind in West Africa. Out of more than 50 startups groomed in the first cohort, 19 were selected as market-ready to pitch to investors, spanning nine from the accelerator programme and ten from the incubator track. e hub trained 171 AI engineers, hosted more than 50 community-led events, conducted ecosystem workshops across at least eight Nigerian states, engaged more than 5,000 participants in entrepreneurship and technical training, and recorded over 20,000 physical visits to the facility.
IHS Nigeria CEO Mohamad Darwish said the depth of creativity and diversity of ideas on display at the Demo Day reflect what becomes possible when talent is properly equipped and supported. IHS Nigeria Chief Commercial Officer Akeem Adeshina said the event represented a critical transition moment for the startups, moving them from training and competence-building into commercialisation and investor engagement.
Ilorin Innovation Hub Managing Director Temi Kolawole framed the initiative as a direct challenge to the geographic concentration of Nigeria’s tech ecosystem. “Innovation is not just a Lagos conversation or an Abuja conversation; it is a Nigeria conversation,” she said, adding that the hub is designed to ensure geography is never a barrier to building something extraordinary
Kwara State Commissioner for Business, Innovation and Technology, Damilola Yusuf-Adelodun, representing Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRasaq, said the state’s goal is to become a hub where startups grow, ideas mature, and young people build solutions that impact not just Kwara but the country and the world beyond
