BY COBHAM NSA – Seven Nigerian startups have walked away with a combined sum of $277,000 (approximately ₦373 million) in cash and equity after dominating the fourth edition of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) Prize for Innovation (NPI).
The high-stakes finale unfolded over the weekend at the NPI Demo 4.0 Day, where 12 elite finalists faced off in a live pitch competition after emerging among the last ones standing from a staggering pool of more than 6,000 applicants nationwide.
The transformative prize fund was fueled by a collaborative war chest with NSIA anchoring the pool with $220,000, Cascador injected $45,000 and Wema Bank contributed $12,000.
Clinching the top spot at the awards, Nigerian food manufacturer, Come Again Foods walked away with a total of $105,000. The company, which turns locally sourced agricultural commodities into packaged snacks, secured a $100,000 grand prize from NSIA alongside a $5,000 as Cascador Impact Prize.
In second place was insect-farming startup, Protein Kapital, which carted home $70,000 from the NSIA. The company combats waste and agricultural deficits by using Black Soldier Fly larvae to convert organic waste into high-value protein and biofertilizer. Operating across three countries, the agritech firm currently processes roughly 5,000 tonnes of waste.
Coming in at third place was Healthtech innovator InstantRad Inc. that earned a $50,000 cash prize from the NSIA. The company leverages an artificial intelligence-enabled teleradiology platform to instantly connect African hospitals and diagnostic centers with remote radiologists, significantly cutting down patient wait times for critical scans.
On the emergency response platform, Eight Medical secured a combined sum of $19,000 in funding after winning the Cascador Impact Prize. The health-tech startup, which connects users to ambulances, hospitals, and emergency personnel via WhatsApp, USSD, IVR, and phone calls—took home the $15,000 grand prize alongside an additional $4,000 from Wema Bank.
Clean energy marketplace Uwana Energy walked away with a $5,000 healthcare innovation prize. The company specializes in helping local businesses source, finance, and deploy solar power systems to tackle energy poverty.
Agtech innovators Tryctor and Smartei Agri Tech each secured $4,000 in funding to scale their operations. Tryctor manufactures specialized agricultural equipment, while Smartei Agri Tech develops AI-enabled hydroponic farming systems designed to optimize crop yields.
Addressing participants at the programme, NSIA Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, Aminu Umar-Sadiq, explained that all the finalists had undergone a rigorous selection process involving five rounds of interviews, accelerator programmes and meetings.
According to him, providing education, equity and exposure to Nigerian innovators was central to the authority’s strategy for supporting small and medium-sized enterprises, even as it emerged that the nine other finalists will join the top three winners for a six-week, all-expenses-paid learning programme at Lagos Business School.
In his message to the event, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, described SMEs as the backbone of the economy, expressing hope that the businesses would create thousands of jobs, attract investment and develop solutions for African markets within five to 10 years.
Also making a case at the event, Cascador founder, Dave DeLucia, said entrepreneurial training and funding are the twin engines required to shift startups from survival mode to investor-ready scale, stressing that structured mentorship and capital injection are non-negotiable for early-stage companies aiming to expand their market footprint.
