Startup Guide Lagos
5 min read
agos is home to an innovative tech scene and a growing number of startups. But no entrepreneurial ecosystem can thrive without places to gather and work from. With business support services and offering valuable networking opportunities, there are some excellent coworking spaces in the Nigerian metropolis.
As voted by the local ecosystem in the creation of Startup Guide Lagos, these are some of the best coworking spaces in Lagos.
Photo by Co-Creation Hub
📍 294 Herbert Macaulay Way, Sabo Yaba, Lagos
Co-Creation Hub (CcHUB) began operations in 2010 as one of the first innovation hubs in Lagos, and today it’s at the heart of the city’s startup ecosystem.
Located in the center of lively Yaba, it has four floors in a six-floor building. The coworking space on the sixth floor, aptly named The Sixth Floor, is where members including technologists, entrepreneurs, creatives and students can experiment and collaborate.
Many fintech and ecommerce companies work from the space, alongside design agencies and creatives. The CcHUB team runs regular events including hackathons, pitch events and workshops. Membership is flexible, with options ranging from daily to yearly commitments.
“The idea was to bring people together to build the future of Nigeria,” says Michelle Uba, community and events manager.
The space is decorated in vibrant colors and equipped with comfortable, flexible working spaces, meeting rooms, a fully equipped event space and a lounge. There’s also a rooftop patio and a library.
The community team is dedicated to building relationships with members and helping their ventures to succeed. “We work in the space, we laugh with them, we listen to them,” says Michelle.
Photo by Joseph Elliott
📍 7A Milverton Rd., Ikoyi, Lagos
A member of the Impact Hub global network, Impact Hub Lagos launched in 2017. Founders Solape Hammond and Bolaji Finnih observed that although the average Nigerian had entrepreneurial motivation, they lacked meaningful support and were unable to gain traction or opportunity.
Impact Hub Lagos was created to provide access to many forms of support in one place: a conducive work space, community, inspiring events, collaboration opportunities, incubation and acceleration programs and business-consulting services. It attracts a diverse range of people, from government representatives and multinational CEOs to social activists and artists.
Impact Hub Lagos is situated in a welcoming green space in the exclusive Ikoyi neighborhood. It features a coworking area, dedicated offices, a room for nursing mothers, a rooftop patio for events and parties and a hardware lab with tools such as 3D printers and laser cutters. A food truck stops by three times a week, and the building itself is included in the impact-driven mission, with a hundred solar panels reducing its carbon footprint by about 30%.
[You may also like: Discover Accra’s best coworking spaces ]
Photo by Techpoint.africa and Nathanael Bákàrè
📍 10 Hughes Ave., Alagomeji-Yaba, Lagos
Leadspace was founded in 2016 by the team behind Passion Incubator, who saw that entrepreneurs need infrastructure, office space, reliable internet access and a support system to succeed.
“We want to support as many entrepreneurs as possible because we understand that entrepreneurship can catalyze the growth of society,” says Nonyelim Okolie, chief of operations for both the space and the incubator.
Leadspace Yaba is bright, colorful and meant to inspire young people, and Leadspace Ojodu is full of inspiring artwork of disruptors including portraits of Steve Jobs, Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg. A third location named Hub One was created in partnership with First City Monument Bank and has a simple and elegant design to provide a calm working environment. Each space is open to startups at all stages and has an emphasis on community and collaboration.
“We want to ensure our spaces enable entrepreneurs to collaborate and grow faster than they would on their own,” says Nonyelim.
Membership is flexible, with both long-term contracts and hourly desk rentals available. Leadspace is home to a range of entrepreneurs but has a strong focus on technology. Current members are working in software development, edtech, health tech, agritech, travel tech and logistics tech. Members appreciate the collaborative environment and there are examples of people joining as independent freelancers joining forces with other members to become startup cofounders.
Photo by TCD concepts Ltd and Wilson Goru
📍 Business Centre, Circle Mall, Lekki Toll Rd., Lekki Peninsula 2, Lagos
Seedspace is the coworking venture of Seedstars, a Switzerland-based private group of companies with a mission to impact people’s lives in emerging markets through technology and entrepreneurship. In 2015, the organization launched the first Seedspace hub in Lagos.
“The hubs are the heart of how we connect with the local ecosystem,” says Alessia Balducci, general manager at Seedstars Nigeria. “They help us be more present and involved.”
The second location in Nigeria, Seedspace GrowthLab, was opened in partnership with GrowthLab, a local organization helping entrepreneurs scale their businesses. It launched in late 2019 and is located on the second floor of Circle Mall in Jakande – an area undergoing rapid development.
“We felt we were filling a gap in terms of the amenities and services for entrepreneurs in the area,” says Alessia.
The space is modern, with lots of plants and natural light. It features glass-walled offices, fixed- and flex-desk working stations and a cozy cafe that doubles as an event space for up to a hundred people. Two meeting rooms with conferencing technology are available, as well as personal lockers.
Members are predominantly technology companies, but the space is open to startups in any industry. Seedstars runs a number of events, mentoring sessions and hackathons at Seedspace GrowthLab, some with partners such as the Nigerian Stock Exchange, MTN and UNICEF to help startups become investment ready.
Photo by Deeds_Art Photography
📍 7 Ibiyinka Olorunbe Cl., Victoria Island, Lagos
Brothers Fareed and Farouq Arogundade saw the need for a hub to serve the fast-growing number of freelancers and startups in Lagos, so they opened Workspace in 2016.
Its two locations offer fixed and flexible membership plans, and the spaces are decorated in a bright color scheme of black, white and yellow. They are accessible 24/7 and members have access to meeting and conference rooms equipped with projectors, TVs and video-conferencing tools.
“Our major mantra is work–life balance, so we have a lifestyle area at both locations. They include on-site cafes, kitchenettes, gyms, yoga rooms, nap rooms and lounges,” says assistant community manager Vanessa Nwabiani.
Workstation currently has 4,000 members and can seat more than 650 people between the two spaces. Though it markets itself as a space for tech startups, it welcomes and supports all industries. The goal is to be more than a coworking space and to provide an environment where entrepreneurs can feel part of a community, collaborate and succeed.
“It’s really important to us that every member feels like they are a part of a large family,” says Vanessa. “We offer a community where they get to share their ideas and collaborate with people from various sectors to help them create their best work.”
[Read more: Meet the Lagos startups using tech to drive change ]
Want to know more about Lagos and its startup community? Order your copy of Startup Guide Lagos now.
Written by Alexandra Connerty, Rachel Velebny and Tom Jackson.
Repackaged by Hazel Boydell.
Main photo: Workstation by Deeds_Art Photography
