CUALA is a global network of alumni (also known as Eagles) of Covenant University, Nigeria. Made up of diverse individuals from even more diverse walks of life, one of CUALA’s top goals is to equip Eagles with the tools and resources they need to achieve their professional and entrepreneurial ambitions.
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Advancly exists to Power Progress for entrepreneurs across Africa and emerging markets by providing them with access to capital to grow and scale their businesses. However, entrepreneurs are as diverse as they are dynamic – with unique needs & aspirations, and at various stages of growth. This diversity, combined with the ever-evolving realities of doing business in Africa, poses a significant obstacle to reaching and making meaningful connections with the entrepreneurs who need our services most.
At Advancly, we believe in “winning together” – in the power of collaboration to achieve shared goals and objectives. This belief fueled our drive to create a solution to meet entrepreneurs where they are – through the communities (clusters) that already provide them with the tools and resources to succeed. Our cluster initiatives not only expand our reach but enable us to enrich our knowledge base and make more meaningful connections with entrepreneurs, in order to provide solutions tailored to their unique pain points and aspirations. Through these partnerships, we provide entrepreneurs with unique funding opportunities which are made possible by the credibility of the clusters they belong to, fostering co-growth for all.
In March 2023, we announced the first partnership in our cluster initiative drive with the Covenant University Alumni Association (CUALA), a community dear to the hearts of Advancly’s co-founders, who are proud alumni of Covenant University. The decision to initiate this partnership was rooted in appreciation of the institution that played a pivotal role in our founders’ journeys and instilled the values of innovation, entrepreneurship and community.
The Advancly X CUALA Fund is a $1M fund exclusively for alumni with graduate and/or postgraduate degrees from Covenant University, Nigeria. This fund aims to provide entrepreneurs in the CUALA community who run creditworthy businesses, with debt funding to turn their build their businesses forward.
Micdee Designs
Micdee is building the future of workspaces in Africa through commercial design and construction. Over the past 5 years, Micdee has enabled clients across diverse industries to provide better work experiences for their employees by providing top-notch design solutions to elevate culture and productivity.
As a service-oriented business, maintaining a healthy working capital cycle is an important priority for Micdee. With debt capital from Advancly x CUALA fund, the business received seamless access to liquidity, which enables them to take on big projects to expand its portfolio and serve diverse clients, while maintaining its integrity and service quality.
“With Advancly, through the CUALA program, it was easy to be open about our challenges as a business. You don’t get that luxury with a lot of traditional lenders. The capital we’ve received has not only improved our capacity to take on bigger projects but has also bolstered our confidence in our capabilities as a business.”
– Michael Awonowo, CoFounder/CEO, Micdee Designs
Stacs is enabling people to achieve financial freedom by helping them build healthy financial habits and providing access to affordable consumer credit services. Stacs offers a range of financial products and services, which enable users to maintain liquidity while saving to meet essential needs such as housing.
As a financial services and consumer credit provider, Stacs required a liquidity partner to enable them to provide seamless services to their users, whose financial obligations depend on the speed of Stacs’ operations. With debt capital from the Advancly x CUALA fund, Stacs can access capital sustainably and make credit more affordable to its users.
“Beyond providing debt capital, Advancly enabled us to understand and validate our business model and make it more resilient. This, coupled with the partnership with CUALA, gave us a sense of community that reinforced our commitment to being and doing better for the people we serve. With Advancly, we have been given the freedom to not worry so much about finances and focus on offering more value to our customers.”
– Timilehin Odusina, CoFounder/CEO, Stacs
Messenger connects people and businesses across Nigeria with their needs by leveraging technology to provide and aggregate logistics and supply chain services, as well as provide asset financing services to operators and gig workers in these industries.
As a provider of asset financing, Messenger required an efficient and flexible means of acquiring capital to expand its portfolio and optimize its capital structure. With debt capital from the Advancly x CUALA fund, Messenger was enabled to expand its asset list and scale its operations, ultimately resulting in progress for the gig workers in its ecosystem.
“The debt capital we received from the Advancly x CUALA fund has done a lot for our business in terms of cash flow and reach and enabled us to reach certain milestones in record time.”
– Essien Etuk, CoFounder/CEO, Messanger
Power Progress for your business and be a bridge to Progress for your ecosystem.
This program has specifically show us what is possible with powerful collaborations. We are particularly proud to have partner with one of our own to bring this initiative to life. So much value has been passed through the system, and this is just the pilot phase.
Vice President, Business, CUALA
Co-designing the CUALA cluster initiative with the association has been an interesting journey. They have a vibrant, hardworking, innovative and determined business ecosystem. I am proud to be on both sides - a staff of Advancly, and an alumnus of Covenant University.
Head of Design, Brand and Marketing, Advancly
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