Tech start-ups jostle for NSIA’s $220,000 innovation prize

Technology driven start-ups in financial services, agriculture, health, education, manufacturing, logistics & e-mobility, e-commerce & marketplaces, renewables & power, and climate will jostle for the second edition of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) Prize for Innovation (NPI 2.0), with a combined prize value of $220,000.

The prize comes with an all-expense paid, five-week training at Draper University, Silicon Valley, USA, for young Nigerian winners, according to a statement by the organisation, in Abuja, yesterday.

The NSIA Prize for Innovation’s (NPI) primary objective is to identify, build, and finance early-stage innovative solutions that have the potential to catalyze economic growth, enhance the nation’s productive capacity, and create jobs. The NPI is designed to encourage and support ingenuity within the digital sector and to fund new solutions that could result in cost-effective, scalable, and transformative positive impact.

The NPI priority sectors are technology-enabled businesses in financial services, agriculture, health, education, manufacturing, logistics & e-mobility, e-commerce & marketplaces, renewables & power, and climate. The listed priority sectors were selected given the appreciable impact innovations in these sectors can have on the Nigerian economy. Applications from innovative tech-focused or tech-enabled businesses aforementioned sectors will be considered by an expert panel of judges.

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The programme is a multi-year commitment by the NSIA to empower budding Nigerian innovators, in a bid to catalyse the rise of the digital economy. The Programme will adopt a four-staged competition at the end of which ten (10) finalists will emerge and win varied prizes.

Speaking on the second edition of the NPI programme, the Managing Director, Aminu Umar-Sadiq described the NSIA Prize for Innovation as a clear demonstration of the Authority’s support for the Nigerian tech eco-system and the unique opportunity it presents to enable innovation and ultimately improve socio-economic indicators.

“With the second edition of the programme, the Authority is set to reposition home-grown talents for global relevance,” he said.

The maiden edition of the NPI programme commenced with over 2,000 applications and a rigorous selection process, from which 25 start-ups proceeded to the accelerator phase. The first three start-ups and seven runners-up clinched a combined prize value of $255,000.

Deriving from the success recorded in the first edition of the innovative programme, the NSIA has expanded the value proposition to include an all-expense paid training programme at a top-rated university in Silicon Valley, USA, the opportunity to pitch to angel investors, secure additional investment and gain global exposure for the top 10 finalists.

By Babajide Okeowo

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