AfriPulse
November 17, (THEWILL) — The Federal Government has unveiled the Next Moonshot Initiative with application portal for the Student Venture Capital Grant (S-VCG), a national programme that will provide equity-free funding of up to N50 million to support student entrepreneurs building high-impact, technology-driven ventures.
A statement on Monday by the Federal Ministry of Education, described the scheme as a transformative step toward advancing innovation, economic development and STEM-based entrepreneurship across Nigeria’s tertiary institutions.
Speaking at the launch, the Minister of Education, Chief Dr Tunji Alausa, FAMedS, CON, underscored the programme’s strategic importance in shaping Nigeria’s economic trajectory.
“The President has challenged us to look for the next Moonshot within our tertiary institutions. We are not just looking for projects; we are scouting for future Nigerian Unicorns whose roots will be planted right here in our universities and colleges. This is an equity-free seed investment in Nigeria’s future”, he stated.
According to the Ministry, the S-VCG will equip successful applicants with intensive incubation support, expert mentorship, and full access to development tools and platforms needed to transform promising ideas into market-ready ventures.
The structure, officials noted, is deliberately designed to help student founders move beyond early ideation stages and build sustainable enterprises capable of addressing real-world challenges.
A significant feature of the initiative is a strategic partnership with Google, created to strengthen transparency, competitiveness and global-standard evaluation processes. Through the collaboration, Google’s Gemini AI powers customised assessment agents within the application portal, ensuring intelligent and objective review of submissions.
Every applicant who completes the submission process will also receive a one-year free Google Gemini Pro licence and access to premium capacity-building resources intended to boost digital literacy, technical proficiency and entrepreneurial skills.
Alausa said the partnership ensures Nigerian students begin their innovation journey “with the very best tools available globally,” adding that the programme is building “a powerful innovation funnel—from idea to market domination.”
He also confirmed that the application portal is now open to all eligible Nigerian students enrolled in accredited universities, polytechnics and colleges of education. Applicants are encouraged to submit concepts that demonstrate scalability, strong market relevance, clear problem-solving capacity and potential for local or global impact.
The portal is accessible via svcg.education.gov.ng, and students have been advised to prepare detailed proposals outlining their innovation, target market, business model and growth strategy.
While the Next Moonshot initiative will stimulate economic growth by increasing access to startup funding, encouraging technology investment and strengthening Nigeria’s digital innovation pipeline, the programme is positioned as a national venture-capital funnel for nurturing globally competitive student founders and supporting high-potential solutions capable of driving economic expansion.
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