The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) and its partners have awarded $277,000 to seven Nigerian startups through the fourth edition of the NSIA Prize for Innovation (NPI).
The winners were announced on Saturday during the final Demo 4.0 Day, attended by Nairametrics, where 12 selected startups pitched their innovations after emerging from more than 6,000 initial applicants.
The top three innovators received a combined NSIA prize of $220,000 in cash and equity to accelerate their businesses.
This year’s edition featured a combined prize value of $277,000, comprising $220,000 from the NSIA, $45,000 from Cascador, and $12,000 from Wema Bank.
It also offered potential access to up to $1.5 million through the Pula Xcelerator and an opportunity to compete for N100 million in equity-free grants at the grand finale of Wema Bank’s Hackaholics programme.
The Demo Day brought together innovators from diverse backgrounds, alongside industry and government stakeholders.
The startup winners
Come Again Foods, a Nigerian food manufacturer producing packaged snacks from locally sourced agricultural commodities, emerged as the winner.
Its product portfolio includes Tapiokies. The company received a combined prize valued at $105,000, comprising $100,000 from the NSIA and a $5,000 Cascador Impact Prize.
Protein Kapital, an insect-farming company that produces protein and biofertiliser by using Black Soldier Fly larvae to process organic waste, came second.
The company processes approximately 5,000 tonnes of waste across three countries and received $70,000 from the NSIA.
InstantRad Inc., an AI-enabled teleradiology platform connecting hospitals and diagnostic centres with radiologists across Africa, took third place, receiving $50,000 from the NSIA.
- Furthermore, Eight Medical, an emergency medical services company that provides access to ambulances, hospitals, and trained emergency personnel through WhatsApp, USSD, IVR, and telephone channels, won the $15,000 Cascador Impact Prize, as well as $4,000 from Wema Bank.
- Uwana Energy, a clean energy marketplace that helps businesses source and deploy solar energy systems, also won a $5,000 PVAC Healthcare Innovation Prize.
- Tryctor, a Nigerian agricultural equipment manufacturer producing tractors and farm implements designed for smallholder farmers, and Smartei Agri Tech, a climate-tech company developing AI-enabled hydroponic farming systems that use controlled growing environments to improve agricultural productivity while reducing water and land requirements, each received $4,000.
According to the NSIA, the awards comprise both cash and equity components.
The nine additional NSIA award finalists, all classified as fourth-place finalists, will join the top three winners for a six-week, all-expenses-paid learning programme at Lagos Business School.
How the winners emerged
This year’s NPI 4.0 focused on startups operating in manufacturing, climate and food security, and healthcare.
At the event, each of the 12 finalists pitched their solutions to a live audience and a panel of expert judges.
They also responded to questions from judges drawn from the business and technology ecosystems, with Deliotte Consultancy vetting the process from application stage to finality.
Speaking at the event, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the NSIA, Aminu Umar-Sadiq, said the 12 innovators had undergone a rigorous and transparent selection process involving more than 6,000 applications, five rounds of interviews, accelerator programmes, and meetings.
Addressing the press, he said the ability to provide education, equity, and exposure to brilliant Nigerian innovators was a fundamental component of the NSIA’s strategy for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
He said the NSIA, alongside its partners, Wema Bank, Cascador, and Pula, would support the selected businesses to help them advance their ideas, generate cash flow, and potentially attain unicorn status.
Taiwo Oyedele highlights SMEs roles in economy
In his keynote address, the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, stressed that SMEs were the backbone of the Nigerian economy because they sustained millions of livelihoods, provided employment across the country, and supported local economic activity in virtually every sector.
He explained that the ability to innovate, expand production, and reach new markets would be critical to Nigeria’s long-term economic development.
- “Our ambition in view of the trillion-dollar economy would depend in no small measure on our abilities to help small businesses become medium-sized enterprises, medium-sized enterprises become large companies, and Nigerian companies become competitive players across Africa and the world.”
He told the winners and finalists that the true measure of their success would not be the prizes and exposure they received at the event, but the businesses they went on to build in the years ahead.
He expressed the hope that, within five to 10 years, the businesses would employ thousands of Nigerians, attract significant investments, and develop solutions that could serve markets across Africa.
- Speaking to the press, Dave DeLucia, founder of Cascador, said Nigeria had enormous unmet needs, business opportunities, and a strong culture of entrepreneurship and resourcefulness.
- According to him, tapping into these opportunities would require entrepreneurial training and support to help innovators and startups become investment-ready, secure initial funding, attract additional capital, and build sustainable businesses.
- He said identifying the best and brightest innovators at an early stage in Nigeria was a valuable initiative embodied in the NSIA Prize for Innovation.
- He added that innovators would need substantial training and support to become investment-ready and scale their ideas.
On his part, the National Coordinator of the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PIVAC), Dr Abdu Mukhtar, urged the innovators to see challenges as opportunities to make the desired impact in the healthcare, agriculture, and climate change sectors.
What you should know
The NSIA is a Nigerian government investment institution established under the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority Act, 2011, to manage and invest in a diversified portfolio of medium- and long-term funds.
The NSIA Prize for Innovation is the authority’s multi-year initiative to identify and nurture early-stage innovative businesses within the technology ecosystem to create a sustainable positive impact.