Founders Match 1.0: My Experience at the Ilorin Innovation Hub
Ilorin’s startup ecosystem has been on an interesting journey, growing steadily with more founders, talents, and tech enthusiasts stepping up to build solutions. Founders Match 1.0 at Ilorin Innovation Hub was another significant moment in this journey.
At first, when I came across the announcement on Socials that there is going to be a Founders Match at the hub, I wasn’t really sure I want to attend because as at then I don’t identify as a founder. Glad I registered and made the list, the turnout was massive, with nearly 100 attendees, including startup founders, tech talents, business and growth experts, as well as mentors and advisors. It was clear that there is a growing interest in collaboration and knowledge-sharing within the community.
About Founders Match 1.0
The event opened with Mr Temi Kolawole, Managing Director of Ilorin Innovation Hub, sharing his journey from the tech industry into civil service and now to leading the amazing work at the Innovation hub. His personal experiences and connections to notable figures in the tech space such as OO Nwoye created an atmosphere of insight and possibility. If he can do it, then we can make an attempt too by climbing on his shoulders – he’s that accommodating.
Shortly after the great intro, OO Nwoye followed with lessons drawn from his personal and professional background, including his journey into the Paystack world. He emphasised some of the following points:
• Embracing failure as a natural part of the startup journey.
The importance of building iteratively and making small but consistent improvements. He mentioned a time where Shola (Paystack) used to do handle manual settlement.
• Balancing technical and business talent within a founding team. You need less talkers and more doers.
• Starting small (MVP that solves an actual problem for some number of users) and automating repetitive tasks
• Managing co-founder relationships to avoid misalignment
A lively and super interesting Q&A session came next. I recommended the question tool by Charles Dairo. Attendees submitted questions through Questionwave, which made it easy to see the most pressing topics. Some of the questions revolved around:
• How to prioritise feedback from customers when there are multiple requests
• The best time to seek external funding and how to prepare for it
• Ways to protect an idea during the ideation stage
• Identifying when a startup is failing and knowing how to pivot or shut down
• Building effective teams and deciding how to structure equity among co-founders
• Whether it is acceptable to launch with just a landing page before the main product is ready
OO Nwoye’s responses were grounded in experience, offering attendees practical insights they could apply immediately at almost no cost. Mr Temi also shared his insights and experience for some of the questions as well, which were all helpful and largely practical.
Some of the Startups That Stood Out for Me
Several founders presented their solutions in between, and a few caught my attention for their potential impact:
• ExaminAI: Helps students prepare for exams by letting them upload materials and generate multiple-choice questions
• 3ree Innovations: Focuses on hardware product prototyping, turning ideas into tangible products
• Demohub: An EdTech online learning and teaching marketplace connecting teachers and learners, with an affiliate system for earning
• Quontify: Offers automation solutions for SMEs and is exploring a move into ERP, competing with global platforms
The event wrapped up with open-floor discussions, and it was inspiring to see founders and talents exchanging ideas. Some made immediate connections and almost build a team, while OO Nwoye spoke one-on-one with those seeking deeper guidance. I equally had a quick catchup with OO for specific advices on how to navigate working with startups on an advisory role, and we had a quick chat about Zap from Paystack as well because I happened to be an early user long before the public launch. The catchup and all felt like a glimpse of what the future of Ilorin’s startup community could look like.
There is a sense that this type of gathering would benefit from recurring sessions, perhaps once every quarter, to maintain momentum and encourage ongoing collaboration. I left feeling excited about the possibilities that lie ahead for Ilorin’s creative and tech entrepreneurs as well as innovators. I was extremely gingered to the extent that I picked up product building few days after, watch out for my hobby project.
