NSIA launches innovation prize for startups

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has selected some startups for its Accelerator stage to boost innovation in Nigeria.
The NSIA said in Abuja yesterday that the physical bootcamp, tagged ‘Prize for Innovation (NPI 2.0)’ is a two-part accelerator phase that initially had 100 start-ups selected after rigorous evaluation and due diligence carried out on over 7000 early-stage businesses that registered for the competition.

It added: “Out of these, and following the additional screening, the following start-ups from multiple sectors have been shortlisted to proceed to the physical boot camp. They include Magic Carpet, Materials Pro, Jump n Pass, Awacash, VPay, Betalife, Centio Healthcare, Yalo, Pocket Lawyers, Doktorconnect and Trashcoin. Others are One Health, Redease, VPD, Kunda Kids, Agroxchange Technology, Sycamore, Passcoder, Earlybean, Powerfull, Adashe, Cash Africa, TownHall, Sakula, Pave, Tribapay.”

The organisation explained that while at the physical bootcamp, the chosen businesses will be exposed to interactive training sessions, networking opportunities with other innovators and tailored workshops.

“The week-long physical bootcamp will culminate in a mini demo day where the start-ups will pitch their solutions before a panel of judges drawn from the technology and business ecosystem, for a chance to proceed to the Demo Day and vie for a total combined prize value of $220,000 with an all-expense paid five-week training at Draper University, Silicon Valley, USA,” it added.

While commenting on the initiative, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of NSIA, Aminu Umar-Sadiq, explained: “The Authority remains focused on leveraging the NSIA Prize for Innovation to propel socio-economic development especially by catalysing the technology ecosystem, encouraging youth entrepreneurship, advancing innovative solutions to everyday challenges and positioning Nigerian tech talents for global relevance.”

Aminu Umar-Sadiq added that the NSIA Prize for Innovation (NPI) is the Authority’s multi-year commitment to identify and nurture early-stage businesses with potential for transformative impact in Nigeria.

Currently in its second edition, NPI has garnered significant attention as high-quality applications from interested businesses grew from 2,000 in the maiden edition to over 7,000 in 2024.

NPI aligns with the Authority’s ongoing commitment to catalyse the technology ecosystem by identifying and rewarding Nigerian innovators, equipping them with the right tools to scale product–market fit, connecting start-ups with potential investors and delivering a robust community of technology innovators and entrepreneurs.