Three Nigerian firms have received $220,000 each from the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) as part of the second NSIA Prize for Innovation.
During the final Demo Day on Saturday, when ten carefully chosen businesses presented their innovations, the award winners were announced.
The $100,000 main award went to Sycamore, a peer-to-peer lending fintech platform that links borrowers and lenders via technology. In 2019, Babatunde Akin-Moses started Sycamore with the goal of using technology to close the credit gap, empowering African entrepreneurs and fostering economic progress.
Kunda Kids, an edtech media company focused on providing well illustrated engaging African African-inspired digital content to children, parents, and libraries globally – followed closely at the second position with a combined prize value of US$70,000.
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PaveHQ, a learning and career ecosystem that supports students to achieve a successful career came third with a total combined prize value of US$50,000, bringing total combined prize value to US$220,000.
According to a statement from the NSIA, the emergence of the winners followed an assessment of pitches from ten innovators to an expert panel of judges drawn from the business and technology ecosystem.
It added that the evaluation was based on key metrics including market potential, team composition, traction, and competitiveness of the solution proposed.
Speaking after the Demo Day, the Managing Director and Chief Executive of NSIA, Aminu Umar-Sadiq, shared that ‘the NSIA Prize for Innovation was conceptualized in recognition of the pivotal role that technology plays to shape positive socio-economic outcomes, strengthen multiple sectors, significantly expand opportunities across multiple sectors and re-position homegrown talent for global relevance.
“Now in its second year, the NSIA has so far received commendable attention from the tech eco-system as the registration of credible start-ups across Nigeria to join the program has grown from 2,000 to over 7,000 entries within the current year.
“The NPI program validates the Authority’s commitment to propel innovation, support entrepreneurship, and position young Nigerians within the technology eco-system for global relevance,” he said.
Umar-Sadiq added that this year, the program has been expanded to include a five-week all-expense-paid training at Draper University, Silicon Valley USA, to enable all top ten innovators to expand their horizons and potentially deliver solutions on global platforms.
