By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority (NSIA) has announced the launch of the second edition of the NSIA Prize for Innovation (NPI 2.0), with a combined prize value of $220,000 and an all-expense paid, five-week training at Draper University, Silicon Valley, USA.
The maiden edition of the NPI Programme recorded over 2,000 applications and a rigorous selection process, from which 25 start-ups proceeded to the accelerator phase.
Following this, 10 finalists advanced to the demo day to pitch their refined solutions to a panel of seasoned entrepreneurs, innovators, and technology business leaders.
The first three start-ups and seven runners-up top clinched a combined prize of $255,000.
Deriving from the success recorded in the first edition of the NPI programme, the agency has expanded the value proposition for NPI 2.0 to include an all-expense paid training programme at a top-rated university in Silicon Valley, USA, the opportunity to pitch to angel investors, secure additional investment and gain global exposure for the top 10 finalists.
The Managing Director of the organisation, Mr Aminu Umar-Sadiq, noted that “the NSIA Prize for Innovation is a clear demonstration of the Authority’s support for the Nigerian tech eco-system and the unique opportunity it presents to enable innovation and ultimately improve socio-economic indicators. With the second edition of the programme, the Authority is set to reposition home-grown talents for global relevance.”
The NPI programme is a multi-year commitment of the company to support entrepreneurship, empower innovators, create jobs, and enable the Nigerian tech ecosystem. It is designed to encourage and support ingenuity within the digital sector and to fund new solutions that could result in transformative and scalable positive impact.
It is a business enhancement initiative to support early-stage, growth-driven solutions through education, mentorship, and financing before positioning these startups for global relevance.
The programme further validates the NSIA focus on advancing early-stage homegrown solutions within key priority sectors including financial services, agriculture, power, healthcare, education, and manufacturing among others.
The NPI programme is a phased competition broken into four stages ranging from the pre-selection stage: where innovators submit their application through the application portal; the accelerator stage: where the top finalists participate in a virtual and in-person training boot camp; the demo day: where the top 10 finalists pitch their solutions to a pane of tech expert and judges and the post-demo day stage: where the top 10 finalists participate in an all-expense paid training programme in Silicon Valley, USA.
Modupe Gbadeyanka