LSETF X Lagos Innovates Free Workspace Voucher for Small Business in Nigeria

Having applied and gotten the Lagos Innovates LSETF Workspace Voucher for 6 (Six Months) for my business in 2021, I decided to share some insights for small business owners looking to secure funding or similarly workspace vouchers for their business.

Before you continue, it is important to note that only business owners/founders in Lagos, Nigeria can access this particular workspace voucher.

Why You Should Give This a Shot

As a small business owner/founder in Lagos, you definitely understand the struggle of having a stable source of electricity and internet. (In Lagosian voice – The Struggle No Be Here🤣🤣)

You must have been hit by the uncertainties of “NEPA” and the issue of noise if you live in a noisy area. I remember doing a review video for a client only to realize that there was a very loud cock crow in my video. it’s dreadful trust me.

So, here is the deal… I am sharing with you, a facility funding that saved my ass and that of my business in 2021. This is good trust me, keep reading ↓↓

About The Lagos Innovates Workspace Voucher

LSETF Workspace Voucher provides access to well-equipped workspaces and learning to potential founders and/or startups in Lagos State at the very early stages of their ventures (ideation to very early revenue).

Lagos Innovates will fund membership charges at any of their Partner Hubs for 3 to 12 months to help offset the cost of accessing high-quality infrastructure, which includes internet. The award’s value varies depending on the stage.

The application and allocation processes are competitive and merit-based to ensure that this benefit goes to the most promising founders and high-potential enterprises. This is why I decided to write this specifically to help you apply and WIN – yes! the aim is to WIN.

Eligibility Criteria

Before you can be given the voucher, you need to have met the following criteria (s):

• Your company’s stage can range from concept to early revenue. This indicates that it is either not yet incorporated or was incorporated within one year of the date of your Workspace Voucher application.
• Team: Your team is small, and there are no paid members. You are a co-founding group.
• Revenue: You do not earn more than one million naira per month.
• Funding: You have never received any outside funding for your business, including grants, equity, or debt

If you meet these requirements, please keep reading. Now, let’s get down to the application process

The Application Process

Step 1: You are required to start an application on the Lagos Innovates LSETF portal. Once you open the portal and download the Lagos Innovates Workspace Voucher Guidelines – download it directly here

Step 2: You can proceed to start your application process by clicking on the button that says Apply.

Step 3: It brings you to the below page where you will select the Register option to create an account. If you already had an account, you can just log in, or click forgotten password if you cannot remember the password

Step 4: Now you can proceed to fill in the form

Likely Questions And Answers For Lagos Innovates Workspace Voucher Application

Since I have applied and won this opportunity before, I am in the best place to guide you on what questions will be asked and how to answer them efficiently. So I am sharing a google drive document of my downloaded application questions and answers. It is a PDF and you can only view it as a guide to apply for yours. SEE IT HERE

Documents Required for Lagos Innovates Workspace Voucher Application

Before you start the application, do ensure that you have all these documents scanned as it will aid the application process.

1. Valid ID card: You can use a valid national ID card or a voter’s card. I used a voters card in my case
2. Lagos State Residents Registration Agency (LASRRA) Card: This is an official proof that you are resident in Lagos. You can register here for FREE
3. Recommendation Letter: You will need a recommendation letter from someone who is employed or works with a credible/recognized organization. See the sample of my letter here (all you have to do is download it so that you can edit it) – do not use the information word for word!

Selection Criteria

Firstly, I will like to give you a brief on the major criteria here, which are the phases in which your application will be graded. Your application will be graded based on four major criteria:

1. Market potential: They want to understand if the business has a potential market (Simply customers)
2. Strength of the entrepreneur/co-founding team: Do you have a fully equipped team who can carry out and implement the business idea or do you have a functional team that is already delivering results. You need to talk about it.
3. Progress or momentum to date: Here, they want to know how you and your team/co-founders have been able to start delivering on the goal with actual timelines and details of what part of the goal has been met.
4. Strength of a reliable third-party reference: This is where your referee comes in, he/she needs to be someone that understands the core of the business and has watched the business yield from the idea stage. You have a stronger application if the referrer can also speak on the team’s strengths, abilities and achievements.

Other Selection Criteria

• Your online application will be evaluated solely on its own merits, assuming you meet the Workspace Voucher qualifying requirements.
• A panel of judges from the Lagos startup ecosystem will grade applications based on the four criteria I already mentioned above.
• Workspace Vouchers will be provided to the highest-scoring endeavours, subject to a minimum threshold score of 50 points until the remaining vouchers for a certain time are spent.
• It is possible to score 50 points without the help of a third person, however, this is a fantastic approach to boost your score.

Final Words

Once granted the voucher, you will be required to choose a workspace from the Lagos Innovates list of pre-registered workspaces. Also, you will get several emails from different workspaces inviting you to sign up to use your vouchers with them. The emails will look like this – see below

Furthermore, you will receive the voucher at the end of every month. The workspace rates will determine the period your vouchers can cover and the space you’re given, whether a cubicle or a personal office for you and your team.

Finally, you are required to send the voucher to the hub manager where you choose to use it. Check out the available workspaces to choose from here (scroll down to the end of the page to see the list and decide on which to choose according to your location).

Are you considering applying now and are still confused about how to go about it? I can help out if you contact me. I wish you success with your application.