By Bassey Udo
The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authoritty (NSIA) on Saturday announced Come Again Foods as the overall winner in the $275,000 prize in the fourth edition of its Prize for its flagship innovation and entrepreneurship (NPI 4.0) programmes.
Come Again Foods, which manufactures packaged snacks using locally sourced agricultural commodities, including cassava, was unveiled the overall winner, receiving a combined prize of $100,000.
Other winners included Protein Kapital, which produces protein and biofertilisers through insect farming and processing of organic waste peoducts, which emerged the second winner, receiving a combined prize of $70,000, an Instant Rad nc., an Al-enabled teleradiology platform connecting hospitals and diagnostic centres with radiologists across Africa, placed third, which went home with a combined prize of $50,000.
Additional awards presented during the final Demo event included the Cascador cash prizes of $15,000 each, to Eight Medical and Uwana Energy; Cascador Impact prizes of $5,000 each to Sambal Enterprises, Come Again Foods and Ebees Green startups.
Also, Wema Bank prizes of $4,000 each went to Eight Medical, Smartel Agri Tech and Tryctor startups.
The total prize money for the competition comprised of $220,000 from NSIA; $45,000 from Cascador and $10,000 from Wema Bank.
At the end of the Demo Day event, witnessed by the representative of the Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister for the Economy, top management of the NSIA and others sponsors, 12 finalists, selected from 6,000 applications, pitched their businesses to an expert panel of leaders from the business, investment and innovation ecosystems.
The NPI 4.0 edition of the competition focused on Manufacturing, Climate &
Food Security, and Healthcare sectors of the economy with significant potential to strengthen economic resilience, create jobs, improve livelihoods and advance sustainable development.
The NPI 4.0 Demo Day, which has as its theme: “Building for Impact”, provided the opportunity for the 12 high-potential Nigerian startups to demonstrate how their developed solutions contributed to the resolution of the country’s critical socio-economic challenges.
Building on previous editions, NPI 4.0
expanded opportunities for participating startups through strategic partnerships, increased access to funding, and enhanced entrepreneurial
development and business growth support.
Beyond the prize pool, the NSIA said NPI 4.0 provides pathways to further financing, business development and market access, enabling participating startups to strengthen their operations and scale proven solutions.
The agency said winners would have the opportunity to access up to $1.5 million in growth capital through Pula Xcelerator to support business expansion and operational growth as well as participate in a fully-funded entrepreneurial development programme, which covers business strategy, leadership, governance, financial management, market expansion and investor readiness at the Enterprise Development Centre (EDC), Lagos.
In his opening remarks at the Demo Day event, the Managing Director and Chief
Executive Officer of NSIA, Mr. Aminu Umar-Sadiq, noted that the quality of solutions presented this year reflects the depth of innovation and entrepreneurial talent across Nigeria.
Through the NSIA Prize for
Innovation, he said the NSIA not only recognize promising ideas, it creates pathways for entrepreneurs to access the capital, capabilities, networks and partnerships needed to build sustainable, scalable businesses.
“The evolution of NPI 4.0 and the expanded opportunities created through our partners reinforce our commitment to supporting Nigerian innovators in developing practical solutions to critical challenges.
“We congratulate all the winners and finalists and look forward to seeing these businesses grow, create jobs and deliver meaningful economic and social impact to the society,” Umar-Sadiq said.
Speaking at the event, Minister of Finance and Coordinating Minister of the Economy, Taiwo Oyedele, described small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as the backbone of Nigeria’s economy, as their growth was critical to job creation, economic prosperity and national development.
Represented at the event, the minister said although investment, infrastructure, industrialisation and fiscal stability remained important economic priorities, the strength of the economy ultimately depended on businesses that produced goods, delivered services, employed citizens and created opportunities.
The SMEs, he noted, sustain millions of livelihoods and support economic activities across virtually every sector of the economy, making them indispensable to Nigeria’s economic future.
Nigeria’s youthful population, the Minister said, presented enormous opportunities for entrepreneurship, underlining the need for the government to create an enabling environment for young people to establish businesses, develop new industries and generate employment.
Noting that many promising businesses continued to struggle as a result of limited access to financing, skills and institutional support, Oyedele said the Federal Government was addressing these challenges through initiatives, including the Development Bank of Nigeria, the National Credit Guarantee Company (NCGC), the Nigerian Consumer Credit Corporation (CreditCorp) and the Investment in Digital and Creative Enterprises (iDICE) programme.
He highlighted NSIA’s role in supporting the establishment of some of these institutions, adding the Authority’s efforts in mobilising institutional investment into promising Nigerian enterprises through venture capital funds was commendable.
NSIA, he said, was developing an impact innovation fund in partnership with the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), with British International Investment (BII) expressing interest in participating, adding that the fund was expected to support commercially viable businesses addressing significant economic and development challenges.
He described the NSIA Prize for Innovation as an important platform for preparing promising Nigerian businesses for sustainable growth, commending the authority for placing commercial viability and execution capacity at the centre of its selection process.
The Minister commended NSIA’s leadership, judges, mentors and partners, including Cascador, Pula and Wema Bank, for their contributions to promoting entrepreneurship and innovation.
The NPI 4.0 Demo Day brought together entrepreneurs, investors, government representatives and private-sector stakeholders to showcase innovative businesses and strengthen support for Nigerian enterprises with the potential to generate economic and social impacts.
Since its inception, the NSIA Prize for Innovation has become an important platform for entrepreneurship development, innovation and ecosystem support in Nigeria, with its first three editions attracting more than 20,000 applications from startups across Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones, spanning sectors including financial technology, agriculture, healthcare, education, transportation and logistics.
Through funding, technical support, entrepreneurial training, mentorship and strategic partnerships, the programme has helped promising Nigerian businesses strengthen their
business models, expand their operations and improve their readiness for investment.
The NPI 4.0 was designed as a structured development pathway, taking participating businesses from application and capacity building through pitching, funding and post-competition support.
The programme comprisesd five stages, including pre-selection stage, where startups were allowed to submit applications through the NPI application portal to be assessed against the programme’s eligibility and selection criteria, and accelerator stage, where selected startups participated in intensive capacity-building and business development sessions to strengthen their business propositions and prepare for investment and scale.
The Mini Demo Day saw shortlisted startups presenting their solutions as part of the finalist selection process, while the Demo Day provided opportunity for the finalists to pitch their businesses to an expert panel of leaders from the business, investment and innovation ecosystems.
The Post-Demo Day stage would give the winners and eligible finalists the opportunity to progress to further entrepreneurial development, mentorship, investor engagement and funding opportunities through NPl and its strategic partners.
Through this approach, NSIA said it seeks to help entrepreneurs translate innovation into resilient, investment-ready and scalable enterprises capable of delivering measurable economic and social impact.
While congratulating all NPI 4.0 winners and finalists, the NSIS reaffirmed its
commitment to advancing innovation, entrepreneurship and businesses that
contribute meaningfully to Nigeria’s long-term economic development.
The NSIA Prize for Innovation is the flagship innovation and entrepreneurship
development initiative of the NSIA, which identifies and supports high-potential startups through funding, capacity building, mentorship and
strategic partnerships, enabling entrepreneurs to develop scalable solutions that contribute to economic growth, job creation and sustainable development in Nigeria
and across Africa.
The NSIA, which is Nigeria’sinvestment institution established under the Nigeria Sovereign Wealth Act (2011) to manage and invest in a diversified portfolio of medium and long-term funds, has the mission to drive sustained economic development for the benefit of all Nigerians by building a savings base, enhancing infrastructure development and providing economic stabilisation support.
NSIA operates three distinct funds, namely the Stabilisation Fund, the Future Generations Fund and the Nigeria Infrastructure Fund.
