NSIA awards $220,000 to startups at innovation demo day

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Barbara Bako, Abuja.

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has announced winners of the third edition of the NSIA Prize for Innovation (NPI 3.0), rewarding innovative Nigerian startups with a total of $220,000 in prize money and further global exposure.….

The announcement was made at the NPI Demo Day held in Abuja, where ten finalists pitched their solutions to a panel of expert judges from the business and technology sectors.

Now in its third year, the NPI is part of NSIA’s commitment to nurturing early-stage innovators building transformative solutions in key sectors such as healthcare, agriculture, and education.

This year’s edition received over 5,000 applications from across the country, with ten finalists selected to pitch at the Demo Day following a rigorous screening and accelerator programme.

D-Olivette Labs, which develops smart, AI-powered bio-digesters that convert farm and food waste into clean energy and organic fertilizer, emerged as the overall winner.

The company took home $100,000 from NSIA, along with an additional $15,000 Cascador Impact Prize, bringing its total winnings to $115,000.

In second place was Promise Point, a woman-led cassava processing startup with a fully automated facility and over 2,000 smallholder farmers in its value chain.

The startup received $70,000 from NSIA and an additional $15,000 Cascador prize, totalling $85,000.

GeroCare, a health-tech platform focused on improving elderly care, secured third place with a $50,000 NSIA prize and a $5,000 Healthcare Innovation Prize from the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC), totaling $55,000.

Also recognized at the event were Mediverse, a Nigerian-built laboratory automation platform, and Sosocare, a low-cost health insurance platform. Both received $5,000 PVAC Healthcare Innovation Prizes.

FriendsnPal, Africa’s first predictive AI-powered mental health platform, was awarded a $15,000 Cascador Impact Prize for its innovative approach to emotional support.

Speaking at the event, NSIA Managing Director and CEO, Mr. Aminu Umar-Sadiq, reiterated the Authority’s commitment to driving innovation and economic transformation in Nigeria.

“The NSIA Prize for Innovation exemplifies our commitment to nurturing homegrown solutions with the potential for transformative impact. This year, we have partnered with PVAC and Cascador to expand the opportunities for participating startups and further propel innovation, youth entrepreneurship and meaningful solutions that drive positive socio-economic outcomes,” he said.

All ten finalists will now proceed to participate in a fully funded five-week training programme at Draper University in Silicon Valley, USA, as part of the post-Demo Day phase of the competition.

The NSIA Prize for Innovation is structured in four phases: the pre-selection stage, where applications are screened; the accelerator stage, featuring bootcamps and mini demo days; the main Demo Day; and the post-Demo Day stage involving further training and investor exposure.

The initiative aligns with NSIA’s broader objective of supporting Nigeria’s technology ecosystem by connecting startups with resources, funding opportunities, and global platforms.