…Gets $75,000 Equity Contribution, $25,000 Cash
After a brilliant pitch, Money Africa has won the inaugural edition of the Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority Prize for Innovation (NPI) defeating over 2,000 applicants and 10 shortlisted finalists in the different categories of the challenge.
Money Africa which emerged winner received a combined prize of $75,000 equity and $25,000 in cash ($100,000), while Extension Africa came second winning $52,500 in equity contribution and $17,500 in cash ($75,000).
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The third-place winner, LegitCar Africa, received $37,500 in equity and $12,500 in cash ($50,000), while the 4th to 10th winners received $5,000 in cash. This totals the prize of $255,000 in cash and equity investments for the top ten start-ups.
From the 2,000 participants, seven companies emerged a joint fourth place. They are TruQ, Capsa Technology, Apace Technology Solution, Yalo Technologies, Creditcheck, Vella Finance and Kobopay.
The winners were announced on Saturday in Lagos at the Demo Day event of the tightly contested prize for innovation which saw 2,000 start-ups apply and subsequently trimmed to 25 and 10 start-ups.
The NPI Demo Day was presided over by seasoned judges including Juliet Ehimuan (Google, Nigeria), Olatunbuson Tijani (CCHub), Iyinoluwa Aboyeji (Future Africa, Andela & Flutterwave) and Amal Hassan (Outsource Global Technologies).
The journey for the prize began on Wednesday, March 8, 2023, when NSIA opened the application portal for the maiden edition of the Authority’s Prize for Innovation Programme.
Driven by the quest to make Nigeria a hub for Africa’s start-ups, innovators, and techpreneurs, the NSIA believes by “investing in promising technology start-ups,” the country could unlock new avenues of growth and enhance its competitive advantage.
Launched on December 10, 2022, the NSIA earmarked a total prize value of $255,000 to be awarded in cash and equity investment to the underlying businesses of the winners.
The NPI targets key sectors the- Financial Services, Agriculture, Health, Education, Manufacturing, Renewables, Climate, E-commerce, and Power, believed to change the fortunes of the Nigerian economy.
In the second phase, 25 start-ups were shortlisted for boot camping out of 2,000. Those that scaled through include Money Africa, Capsa Technology, LegitCar Africa, Boost Power Technologies, Acceede, Creditchek, Apace Technology Solution, TruQ, CDIAL AI, Kobopay, and Extension Africa.
Others were Nafarm Foods, Nigenius, Periculum Technology, Quadloop, BrandDrive, WasteBazaar, Vella Finance, Yalo Technologies, Chekker, Aqualife Ifarms, BetaLife Health, Jise, Esusu Africa and Oncopadi.
Following the 25 selected for the accelerator programme, they were further shortlisted to 10 finalists which include Capsa Technology, Apace Technology Solution, Creditchek, Kobopay, Extension Africa, LegitCar Africa, Money Africa, TruQ, Vella Finance, and Yalo Technologies who pitched to the panel of judges.
Aminu Umar, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of the NSIA said, “This Demo Day is a testament to NSIA’s commitment to playing a central role in Nigeria’s digital ecosystem in a manner that is considered suitably adapted and is in line with our mandate, which is to drive sustainable economic development for current and future generations of Nigerians.
“Innovation underlines the pace of global development. It is the extent to which all other infrastructure subsectors persist and continues to advance, disrupt, and create substantial wealth, catalysing instances of leapfrogging to numerous dimensions.
“The NSIA has prioritised innovation to bring the tremendous benefits of a thriving technology ecosystem to crowd in domestic capital for Nigerian ideas to back our future unicorns.
“Doing so is fundamental to NSIA and indeed to the economic future of this great nation. The NSIA Prize for Innovation Program is a three-stage programme that seeks to identify, empower, educate, and finance early-stage technology through an accelerator and mentorship program, we provide a platform for our entrepreneurs to showcase and scale the digital solutions that they will present here. After a transparent screening and selection process and an intense accelerator and mentorship programme, 10 finalists emerged today.
“We gather not only to celebrate their ideas but also to celebrate the dedication and execution of those ideas. The seven fourth place finals will receive cash prizes, and hopefully, potential funding opportunities by investors present here and beyond.”
After the pitch, Deloitte presented the results from the panel of judges to the NSIA team headed by the CEO, Umar.
Founded in 2018 by Oluwatosin Olaseinde, Money Afrrica is a financial literacy platform.