Itana (formerly Talent City), Africa’s first free zone for the digital economy that provides an ideal business environment for global startups, has announced the raise of $2 Million in a pre-seed round.
The pre-seed round was led by global venture capitalists, with participation from other investors which include Local Globe, Amplo, Pronomos Capital, and Future Africa.
The funds raised will enhance Itana’s efforts to improve the ease of doing business index, drive foreign direct investment, and catalyze employment in Nigeria. Also, it will be pivotal in providing a gateway to Nigeria and other African markets, with the largest software talent workforce along with strategic local partnerships that facilitate global expansion opportunities.
Speaking on the funds raised, Itana’s Chief Executive Officer, Luqman Edu said,
“We are thrilled to announce this round of funding. It validates our efforts and reiterates the aligned vision with our investors and partners to make it easy to invest and operate in Africa’s digital economy. The African market is still largely untapped and Itana will provide the ideal business environment that will be fully online, for global and pan-African digital and service companies to use Nigeria as an anchorage to operate with ease across the continent”.
Itana’s co-founder Iyinoluwa Aboyeji said Itana would enable entrepreneurs to build globally respected businesses in Nigeria’s first digital free zone by leveraging benefits currently only enjoyed by traditional manufacturing or oil and gas industries who have traditionally set up in Nigeria’s free zones.
In his words,
“Within the Itana digital free zone, startups will have the benefit of a stable policy environment, tax and capital repatriation incentives, and the freedom to operate remotely without the need for an expansive physical presence within the free zone. I am looking forward to the global businesses from Nigeria that will emerge from this”.
Spearheaded by one of Nigeria’s most successful tech entrepreneurs, Iyinoluwa Aboyeji, and real estate entrepreneur Luqman Edu, Itana is an aspiring tech hub that promises to host Nigeria’s internet workers and help nurture a new generation of tech unicorns.
Itana enables companies to access the African market, in turn attracting foreign investment that will help fuel the growth of the continent’s technology and digital services economy while uplocking the massive potential of the talent force and improving Nigeria’s ease of doing business index.
Itana has a proposed plan to develop a 72,000 sqm live-work-build district in Lagos, Nigeria (Alaro City Free Zone) that will serve as a physical hub for community-building and provide the physical infrastructure needed to support digital talent that will include reliable wifi and power, coworking spaces, and residential facilities.
At Itana, the founders are building a platform that mitigates the growing pains of Africa’s tech industry: a model system of digital, physical, and social infrastructure that enables the most ambitious talent on the continent to build.
They envision a better business environment through improved governance, infrastructure, and community for global credibility and acceptability, increased foreign direct investment, and more jobs for the country and the continent.
Itana is backed by global partners, investors, and governments which include, PWC, ALÁRÒ CITY, Future Africa, PRONOMOS CAPITAL, AMPLO, and Local Globe.
With the ambition to become Africa’s Silicon Valley, Itana is an aspiring tech hub that promises to host Nigeria’s internet workers and help nurture a new generation of tech unicorns.
Taking advantage of the Lekki Free Zone’s pre-existing tax breaks to appeal to itinerant entrepreneurs, the founders envision the completed city as somewhere between the glittering spires of Dubai and Delaware, the small US state that is the registered home of more than 1.5 million companies from all over the world.
