LoftyInc Pays Courtesy Call to Monterey & MIIS

The Executive Partner of LoftyInc Allied Partners Limited visited with LAPL's key overseas Education Partner- the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS), Monterey California on August 23, 2010. Mr. Michael Oluwagbemi on a courtesy call and familiarization tour of MIIS, met with the Dean of the Graduate School of International Policy and Management at MIIS and Professor of Strategic Management, Yuwei Shi in his office.

LoftyInc Exec. Partner (L) at Dean Yuwei Shi's (R) Office on Courtesy Visit

MIIS is LoftyInc's overseas education resource partner, and would provide some training/mentoring resources to the newly created IdeasLab platform in Nigeria. Specifically, during the visit - MIIS committed to sending student interns (volunteers) trained within the Innovation Scouts Program in place in her Graduate Business Curriculum, to Nigeria during the first IdeasLab window. The Innovation Scout Interns of LoftyInc's I-3 Program (in partnership with Africa's premier think tank-  ALF), will be entrusted with mentoring and providing technical input to IdeasLab participating entrepreneurs and incubated businesses during the program. The interns will also serve the dual purpose of advocating to Global Investors on behalf of the businesses they advise under incubation.

LoftyInc will assist with logistics of the relocation and stay of the MIIS graduate student interns during their attachment program in Nigeria, and will also source for indigenous professors to train MIIS students in California in a one week period very early next year prior to deployment. Discussions with a prestigious business school in Nigeria is under active discussion and at advanced stages to partner with MIIS in this regard.

LoftyInc will also be participating in a Social Impact Investment Summit to be hosted by the Monterey Institute on September 24th , 2010 to promote a global program modeled on education-investment funds partnership to spur innovation global centers of excellence including but not limited to China, India and Nigeria. Partner, Dami Agboola as well as Advisor, Marsha Wulff will be representing LoftyInc at this event and presenting.

Dean Yuwei Shi (L) and LoftyInc's Advisor Marsha Wulff (R) share some thoughts during the visit

MIIS' input to the IdeasLab was described by the Managing Partner and Incubation Program Director, Wole Odetayo as "central to achieving the objectives" of the initiative proposed alongside our strategic partner, Africa Leadership Forum. The physical location of IdeasLab is under construction, and recruitment into the program will resume soon. For more information on the IdeasLab email ideaslab@loftyincltd.biz

MIIS-GSIPM Facility at Beautiful Monterey; MIIS is a Graduate School of Middlebury College

LoftyInc Allied Partners Limited is a Start-Up Funding & Incubation Firm based in Lagos Nigeria. With a Global Team of Professionals aiding the innovation and entrepreneurship process, LoftyInc specializes in start-up incubation, capital formation and funding. LoftyInc also offers project and management advisory services as well as capital & real sector research for multinationals, investors and institutions in the frontier market where it operates.

LoftyInc & ALF Signs Strategic Partnership Agreement to Spur Innovation

On Friday, LoftyInc's Managing Partner, Oluwole Odetayo and Africa's premier think-tank the Africa Leadership Forum, Executive Director - Ayodele Aderinwale, MFR - inked a strategic partnership agreement at ALF's sprawling Ota's campus that calls for establishment of a permanent high impact business incubation platform. The strategic initiative is to be known as the Innovation Incubation Initiative, also to be known as I-3. The challenge which the partnership agreement seeks to tackle is that of spurring the next wave of innovation from the emerging economies of Sub-Sahara Africa.

ALF was founded in 1988 by Ex-Nigeria President, General Olusegun Obasanjo in response to  ALF was founded in 1988 by Ex-Nigeria President, General Olusegun Obasanjo in response to a number of very pressing challenges facing post-independence Africa. Today, it is led by indefatigable new generation of Africans, and has on its board (of Conveners and Exco) prominent African leaders like Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa and former South Africa & Mozambique first lady, Graca Machel-Mandela. ALF operates from a sprawling campus in Ota Nigeria, and also runs one of three Central Bank of Nigeria's entrepreneurship development center in Lagos, Nigeria.

The I-3 program objective as stated in the agreement, is to: 

1. Identify and develop high impact business founders and innovators in a business incubation system known as “Ideas Lab”
2. Develop a pool of investible equity fund to support ideas emerging from the IDEAS LAB to be known as The Entrepreneurship Development and Growth Equity Fund, “The EDGE Fund”

ALF and LoftyInc will be joining forces to provide resources to the physical facility that is expected to train up to twenty-five entrepreneurs within each funding window starting from first quarter next year (each funding window is to run from 9-24 months) . ALF and LoftyInc will also serve as co-managers of the EDGE Fund which is expected to take equity stake in incubated businesses, and generate above market rate return to private sector and developmental partner investors. 

LoftyInc's Managing Partner, Wole Odetayo (Left) & ALF's Exec Director Ayo Aderinwale (Center) & LoftyInc's Ayokunle Akinrotimi (Right) after the Strategic Partnership Agreement Signing Ceremony held at ALF's Ota, Nigeria Headquarter on Friday

Incubated businesses in the Media Entertainment Technology (MET), Energy & Environmental Systems (EES), Consumer Products (CP) and Life sciences and Wellbeing (LSW) Sectors are expected to be funded with a combination of equity, loan and convertible loans through instruments structured by I-3. Mentors to assist in managing the IdeasLab and shepherding the incubation process will be trained in the Monterey Institute of International Studies, California and will be in Nigeria as soon as the program is launched. 

An ultra-modern incubation facility to house our innovators is under construction in Ota, and shall be complete in the fourth quarter. The recruitment and identification of potential innovators for the first funding window has since begun. Contact us at ideaslab@loftyincltd.biz for more information or to forward your business plans/profiles for consideration. 

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LoftyInc Allied Partners Limited is a Start-Up Funding & Incubation Firm based in Lagos Nigeria. With a Global Team of Professionals aiding the innovation and entrepreneurship process, LoftyInc specializes in start-up incubation, capital formation and fundin. Also, LoftyInc offers project and management advisory services as well as capital & real sector research for multinationals, investors and institutions in the frontier market where they operate.