The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has announced the shortlisting of 26 Nigerian startups to participate in the accelerator stage (physical bootcamp) of its Prize for Innovation program.
According to a statement from the NSIA, 100 startups were first selected out of over 7,000 early-stage businesses that registered for the competition.
Another round of selection brought the number down to the 26 that will participate in the two-part accelerator phase.
The NSIA Prize for Innovation is designed to empower early-stage tech ventures with the potential to drive economic growth, create jobs, and enhance Nigeria’s productive capacity.
For this year’s edition, NSIA said the startups would receive up to US$220,000 in cash and equity investment, including a life-changing five-week, all-expense paid training program at Draper University, Silicon Valley USA.
The selected startups
According to the NSIA, the startups were selected from multiple sectors of the economy and they include Magic Carpet, Materials Pro, Jump n Pass, Awacash, VPay, Betalife, Centio Healthcare, Yalo, Pocket Lawyers, Doktorconnect and Trashcoin.
Others are One Health, Redease, VPD, Kunda Kids, Agroxchange Technology, Sycamore, Passcoder, Earlybean, Powerfull, Adashe, Cash Africa, TownHall, Sakula, Pave, Tribapay.
While at the physical bootcamp, the NSIA said the businesses would be exposed to interactive training sessions, networking opportunities with other innovators and tailored workshops.
The week-long physical bootcamp is expected to culminate in a mini demo day where the startups would pitch their solutions before a panel of judges drawn from the technology and business ecosystem, for a chance to proceed to the Demo Day and vie for the total combined prize value of US$220,000.
Propelling economic development
Commenting on the development, the Managing Director & Chief Executive Officer, Aminu Umar-Sadiq, said:
“The Authority remains focused on leveraging the NSIA Prize for Innovation to propel socio-economic development especially by catalyzing the technology ecosystem, encouraging youth entrepreneurship, advancing innovative solutions to everyday challenges, and positioning Nigerian tech talents for global relevance.”
“The NSIA Prize for Innovation is the Authority’s multi-year commitment to identify and nurture early-stage businesses with potential for transformative impact in Nigeria,” he added.
What you should know
The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority is a Nigerian government investment institution established by the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Act (2011), to manage and invest in a diversified portfolio of medium and long-term funds.
Its mission is to play a leading role in driving sustained economic development for the benefit of all Nigerians through building a savings base for the Nigerian people, enhancing the development of Nigeria’s infrastructure, and providing stabilization support in times of economic stress.
The NSIA operates three distinct funds, the Stabilization Fund, the Future Generations Fund, and the Nigeria Infrastructure Fund.
