FG UNVEILS ‘NEXT MOONSHOT’ SCHEME, OPENS PORTAL FOR N50M STUDENT INNOVATION GRANT

FG UNVEILS ‘NEXT MOONSHOT’ SCHEME, OPENS PORTAL FOR N50M STUDENT INNOVATION GRANT

The Federal Government has introduced a new national innovation drive tagged the Student Venture Capital Grant, S-VCG, aimed at supporting student founders with breakthrough ideas capable of scaling into major commercial ventures.

The initiative, launched by the Federal Ministry of Education, is built to strengthen student-led innovation across tertiary institutions as part of the Renewed Hope Agenda. Under the scheme, eligible students can access equity-free grants of up to N50 million to develop high-impact projects in STEMM fields.

Announcing the programme, the Minister of Education, Chief Dr Tunji Alausa, said the government is searching for ideas with the potential to redefine Nigeria’s technological future. He noted that the vision is to identify the “next Moonshot” within universities and colleges, stressing that the support is intended to nurture future Nigerian unicorns from campus level without demanding equity from beneficiaries.

The grant comes with a full support structure that includes incubation programmes, mentorship from established industry players, and access to tools and platforms needed to move innovations from concept stage to market readiness.

To further strengthen the scheme, the Ministry has entered a partnership with Google. Through this collaboration, Google’s Gemini AI will power specialised evaluation agents embedded in the application portal to ensure fair and efficient review of submissions. Every applicant who completes a valid submission will also receive a one-year free Google Gemini Pro licence and premium learning resources to boost their technical and entrepreneurial skills.

The Ministry said the move is part of efforts to give Nigerian students a competitive global advantage by equipping them with world-class innovation tools from the onset of their entrepreneurial journey.

The application portal is now open to all students in accredited tertiary institutions. Interested applicants are expected to submit proposals with clear commercial viability, scalability and relevance to national or global challenges.

The official portal for submission is available at svcg.education.gov.ng.