NSIA Awards $220,000 Innovation Prizes to Nigerian Startups

By Oluwakemi Kindness

The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has announced winners of the third edition of its NSIA Prize for Innovation (NPI 3.0), awarding over $220,000 to Nigerian startups developing solutions in energy, agriculture, and healthcare.

The announcement followed an intense pitch session at the NPI 3.0 Demo Day, where ten finalists, selected from over 5,000 applicants, showcased their innovations to a panel of experts from the business and tech sectors.

This year’s edition saw NSIA partnering with the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC) and Cascador, introducing additional rewards to amplify the impact for participating startups.

These included $15,000 Cascador Impact Prizes and $5,000 PVAC Healthcare Innovation Prizes awarded to six startups within the top ten.

Emerging top of the competition was D-Olivette Labs, creators of AI-powered bio-digesters that turn farm and food waste into clean energy and organic fertilizers.

They clinched a total of $115,000, combining a $100,000 NSIA prize and a $15,000 Cascador Impact Prize.

Also, Promise Point, a woman-led cassava processing venture working with over 2,000 smallholder farmers, came second with $85,000 in total prizes.

In 3rd place, GeroCare, a health-tech platform focused on elderly care, took third place, receiving $55,000.

Other startups such as Mediverse, Sosocare, and FriendsnPal also received prizes for their innovations in healthcare automation, affordable health insurance, and AI-driven mental health support, respectively.

Speaking on the significance of the prize, MD & CEO of NSIA, Aminu Umar-Sadiq, said the NSIA Prize for Innovation (NPI) aligns with the Authority’s ongoing commitment to catalyse the technology ecosystem by identifying and rewarding Nigerian innovators.

While also, 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.

“Through NPI, we are nurturing homegrown solutions that can drive Nigeria’s socio-economic transformation. Our collaborations with PVAC and Cascador this year have further broadened the opportunities for these startups.”

Beyond financial rewards, the top ten finalists will participate in a fully-funded five-week training at Draper University, Silicon Valley, equipping them with global business skills and investor networks.