See the names of the top three winners of the NSIA N330m Prixe for Innovation

• The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has announced three local startups as winners of its $220,000 Prize for Innovation
• The tech firms emerged after a hectic competition involving about 7,000 applicants
• The three winners include Sycamore, Kunda Kids, and PAveHQ, who won $100,000, $70,000, and $50,000 respectively

Legit.ng’s Pascal Oparada has reported on tech, energy, stocks, investment, and the economy for over a decade.

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has unveiled three local startups that won its $220,000 prize for innovation.

The finalists emerged after a grueling competition involving 7,000 applicants.

The winners of NISA's $220,000 Prize for Innovation Credit: NSIA
Source: Facebook

The top three winners

The three winners are Sycamore, a lending fintech platform, Kunda Kids, an ed-tech media firm and PaveHQ, a learning and career platform.

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The NSIA scheme is a yearly initiative to identify creative tech solutions developed by Nigerian tech entrepreneurs.

The competition is focused on tech-enabled businesses in sectors like financial services, agriculture, health, education, manufacturing, logistics, e-mobility, e-commerce, marketplace, and climate.

At the end of the rounds, ten finalists emerged from a list of 7,000 applications to pitch on Demo Day to clinch various prizes.

The three winners emerged from the 10 finalists after pitching their ideas to an expert panel of judges at Demo Day on July 19, 2024, in Lagos.

Winners to proceed to the US for training

According to reports, Sycamore won the grand prize of $10,000 (N160 million), Kuda Kids received $70,000 and PaveHQ received $50,000.

Apart from the funds, the winners were rewarded with an all-expense paid trip to Draper University, Silicon Valley in the United States.

The NSIA Managing Director, Aminu Umar-Sadiq, disclosed that the event seeks to unite the tech ecosystem of regulators, financiers, and idea generators to create remarkable products.

He disclosed that the cash prizes would be awarded in naira, despite being valued in dollars.

Reports say, Umar-Sadiq said that the key role of technology is in supporting various sectors of the economy, such as healthcare, agriculture, and infrastructure.

Competition moves to boost innovation

Legit.ng earlier reported that the NSIA chose some start-ups for its Accelerator stage, which aims to enhance innovation in Nigeria. 

The authority disclosed in Abuja on Tuesday, June 25, 2024, that the physical boot camp is a two-part accelerator phase that initially had 100 start-ups selected after an intense evaluation, and due process was done over 7000 early-stage businesses registered for the initiative. 

The NSIA announced the names of those shortlisted for further screening and to proceed to the boot camp.

NSIA selects 10 Nigerian companies to win N330m

Legit.ng previously reported that after a week-long boot camp, the NSIA released the names of 10 shortlisted innovators for a $220,000 (330 million) prize on Demo Day.

The shortlisted innovators, comprising startups, pitched their solutions before an expert panel of business and tech leaders.

The NSIA confirmed the selection in a statement issued on Wednesday, June 3, 2024, in Abuja. The statement stated that the selected startups will proceed to the Demo Day of NPI 2.0.

Source: Legit.ng