Entertainment Week Africa launches grant pool for creative businesses after Deal Room helps startups become investment

The new grant pool is designed to provide “support” capital to standout businesses from EWA’s 2026 Deal Room, building on a programme that has helped creative businesses become more investment-ready and connect with investors.

Entertainment Week Africa (EWA) is introducing a new Deal Room Grant Pool for its 2026 edition, adding direct funding to a programme designed to connect promising African creative businesses with investors, mentors and commercial opportunities.

The announcement was made at the EWA Deal Room Alumni Meetup in Lagos on October 7, where founders from previous editions of the programme gathered to reconnect and discuss the progress of their businesses.

The new grant pool is designed to address one of the challenges that often follows investor conversations: access to the capital required to turn a promising business into its next stage of growth.

The Deal Room has been building this pathway across previous editions. In 2025, the programme shortlisted 178+ company applications, with nine companies advancing to the accelerator stage and four attracting live investor interest. Businesses that participated included Aktivate, Atsur, FriendnPal, Growwr, Prop’ly and Sports Reels, with ecosystem and investment mentorship and support from Future Africa, Catalyst Fund and Consonance Invest.

The programme has also produced practical outcomes for participating founders.

For Bukunola Bolajoko of 1101 Technologies, the Deal Room helped shift the company’s thinking beyond technical execution towards the wider business ecosystem, while creating opportunities for investor engagement.

For Tele Lawal of Kouture Paradisé, connections made through the EWA ecosystem contributed to the brand’s international expansion, including sales into the US, UK and Sweden and partnerships with logistics companies supporting its growth.

For 2026, EWA is taking the Deal Room a step further by introducing a dedicated grant pool for standout businesses participating in this year’s programme.

Throughout the Deal Room process, selected businesses will work with mentors and be assessed by a jury, which will include their lead mentor, Kemdi Ebi. The grant will be awarded to businesses that demonstrate strong potential and the ability to use the funding support to bridge their next stage of growth.

The initiative forms part of EWA’s broader effort to build more commercial pathways for Africa’s creative economy, connecting creative businesses not only to visibility and industry conversations, but also to investors, markets and opportunities for growth.

The 2026 Deal Room will sit within EWA’s wider programme of markets, showcases, labs and industry experiences taking place across Lagos from 17–22 November 2026 under the theme “Closing the Gap.”

Applications are now open for the EWA 2026 Deal Room.

Businesses building across Africa’s creative economy can apply directly through: