NSIA Awards $220,000 Innovation Prize, Backs Nigerian Startups with Global Scaling Support
In a bold demonstration of its commitment to fostering homegrown innovation and entrepreneurial excellence, the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has announced the winners of the third edition of the NSIA Prize for Innovation (NPI 3.0)—awarding a total of $220,000 in funding and equity investment to startups tackling Nigeria’s most urgent challenges in healthcare, agriculture, and education.
The grand finale, which took place at the NPI 3.0 Demo Day in Abuja, saw 10 finalists—selected from over 5,000 nationwide applications—pitch transformative solutions to a panel of leading business and tech experts.
According to Joyce Onyegbula, Head of Corporate Communications at NSIA, the initiative reflects NSIA’s strategic vision to catalyse innovation, accelerate tech-enabled development, and scale impactful ideas from early-stage ideation to global relevance.
“The NPI is more than a prize—it is a platform for enabling resilient, scalable Nigerian solutions that solve real-world problems, while driving job creation, investor confidence, and inclusive growth,” Onyegbula said.
Meet the Winners: Nigeria’s Next Generation Innovators
🏆 1st Place – D-Olivette Labs ($115,000)
D-Olivette Labs emerged as overall winner with its AI-powered bio-digesters, which convert agricultural and food waste into clean energy and organic fertiliser.
- NSIA Prize: $100,000
- Cascador Impact Prize: $15,000
🥈 2nd Place – Promise Point ($85,000)
A woman-led agritech enterprise with a fully automated cassava processing plant on 1,500 hectares of land, connected to over 2,000 smallholder farmers.
- NSIA Prize: $70,000
- Cascador Impact Prize: $15,000
🥉 3rd Place – GeroCare ($55,000)
A pioneering healthtech startup improving elderly care through digital monitoring and home-based care services.
- NSIA Prize: $50,000
- PVAC Healthcare Innovation Prize: $5,000
Other Notable Awards:
- Mediverse: $5,000 PVAC Prize – Lab automation platform for diagnostics
- Sosocare: $5,000 PVAC Prize – Low-cost health insurance platform
- FriendsnPal: $15,000 Cascador Prize – AI-powered mental health support platform
Strategic Backing from NSIA, Cascador, and PVAC
This year’s edition saw expanded collaboration from:
- Cascador: Empowering impactful ventures with mentorship and $45,000 in impact grants.
- Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC): Targeting scalable healthcare solutions with $15,000 in sector-specific funding.
All top 10 finalists will also embark on a five-week, fully sponsored accelerator programme at Draper University, Silicon Valley, giving them access to global mentors, venture networks, and scale-up opportunities.
“This year’s NPI demonstrates our resolve to build a robust pipeline of indigenous innovators with global relevance,” said Aminu Umar-Sadiq, MD/CEO, NSIA.
Public-Private Partnerships Driving Nigeria’s Innovation Economy
Dr. Abdu Mukhtar, National Coordinator of PVAC, said the partnership with NSIA was designed to mobilise the private sector and spotlight investable healthcare innovations.
“Our goal is to scale up these ventures to benefit millions of Nigerians by closing critical gaps in healthcare access and infrastructure,” he said.
Amanda Etuk, Programme Director at Cascador, emphasised the group’s focus on job creation and entrepreneurship:
“Entrepreneurs are nation builders. Through this prize, we’re not just funding ideas—we’re empowering industries.”
Kozaki Hitoshi, Deputy Head of Missions at the Japanese Embassy, revealed that Japan is co-investing $10 million with the Nigerian Government, managed by NSIA, to build infrastructure that will support Abuja’s social startup hub.
Joseph Giblin, Economic Counsellor at the U.S. Embassy, also pledged continued U.S. support for Nigeria’s startup ecosystem:
“These startups are tackling real-world challenges with bold ideas. We’re excited to see them grow into global forces.”
BRANDECONOMY INSIGHT: Local Innovation, Global Impact
The NSIA Prize for Innovation represents a growing trend of sovereign-backed venture acceleration, where development finance meets entrepreneurship to drive sustainable growth. As Nigeria battles macroeconomic headwinds, investing in tech-enabled problem solvers becomes both a strategic hedge and a long-term prosperity play.
With platforms like NPI, NSIA is helping position Nigeria as not just Africa’s biggest economy, but also its most vibrant innovation hub, capable of exporting scalable, impact-driven solutions to the world.
