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.
Minister of Finance 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.
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.
