Meet the 5 Nigerian Entrepreneurs who Emerged Winners of N10m NITDA Innovation Challenge

Five (5) Nigerian entrepreneurs have emerged as winners of the N10 million National Innovation and Technology Development Agency (NITDA) 2021 Creativity and Innovation Challenge.

Each of the five innovators were awarded a grant of N2 million by the Federal Government for their winning solutions.

The 5 winners saw off competition from over 800 participants in the challenge. They will now take part in NITDA’s Innovation and Entrepreneurship Scheme.

The winners are Nwachinemere Emeka (Kitovu Technology), Muhammed Bature (Schoola Limited), Ajiboye Mayowa (CBTNL), Jeremiah Kuro (Blieu-I Automations) and Izu Freeman (Capsule).

Meet the winners and the tech-enabled solutions they have built.

Emeka Nwachinemere (Kitovu)

Emeka Nwachinemere founded agritech startup, Kitovu in 2016 to optimise farmers’ production capacity by providing a platform which aggregates soil and market demand data.

By gathering soil data, Kitovu is able to recommend suitable soil and crop-specific fertilizers to farmers, as well as certified seeds and agrochemicals. This helps farmers multiply their crop yields. Operating from Oyo state, Kitovu also informs farmers of crop types and specifications that match market demand based on data trends to give them the best returns on sales of farm produce.

Emeka holds a Bachelor’s degree in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. In 2017, he won the World Bank Group’s Ideas for Action Competition, which drew participants from 1,965 registered Teams representing 5,254 innovators across 118 countries.

Abdul Bature (Schoola)

Abdul Bature is an alumnus of Ahmadu Bello University where he studied Computer Science. Having worked as an Information Technology (IT) Director in a number of organisations, Abdul co-founded e-learning app, Schoola together with Nasiru Mustapha in April 2020.

Kaduna-based Schoola offers gamified learning for elementary and secondary school students by leveraging artificial intelligence AI for analytics and content generation. At Schoola, Abdul serves as the Chief Marketing Officer (CMO).

Read: The Many Struggles of the AI Space in Nigeria and the Lessons from Mauritius

Schoola is working to redefine learning among students through fun and exciting games while still focusing their attention on educational content.

Jeremiah Kuro (Blieu-I Automation)

Jeremiah Kuro leads automation startup, Blieu Intelligence as Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

Started in 2016 with Barigborme Jeremiah, Blieu-I provides companies with automation systems including locally made surveillance drones and unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) from original equipment manufacturers (OEMs) for intruder detection and inspection of tank seal leakages.

The Port Harcourt-based startup operates a high-end engineering research and development service for modelling and simulation studies.

Izu Freeman (Capsule)

Izu Freeman is a co-founder at the Centre for Strategic Enterprise Development (CSED). The enterprise has developed Capsule as one of its flagship products.

Capsule is a platform targeted at improving customer relationship management (CRM) for small businesses. Using the Capsule mobile app, SMEs can easily manage their accounts, staff, inventory and access discounts from essential services at zero cost.

Business owners can also create and assign follow up tasks as well as keep track of sales opportunities, emails, among others.

Ajiboye Mayowa (CBTNL)

Ajiboye Mayowa founded Computer Based Test Nigeria Limited (CBTNL). CBTNL is an edtech platform facilitating easy computer-based tests, tutorials and examinations for teachers, students and other individuals.