Startups and entrepreneurs took centre stage at the maiden edition of the Verto Awards, where three Nigerian ventures emerged as top winners at the ceremony held in Lagos.

The awards, which drew key industry leaders, ecosystem partners, media representatives and members of Nigeria’s growing startup community, marked the culmination of months of evaluation and rigorous shortlisting.

Participating startups cut across financial services, aquaculture and AI-powered work solutions — reflecting the award’s broad scope and Verto’s commitment to supporting sector-agnostic innovation.

At the event, three startups secured cash prizes of $10,000, $3,000, and $2,000, respectively, to accelerate their expansion and enhance cross-border operations. The winners include: Dingpay – A Nigerian fintech building an “offline-first” digital wallet that unifies bank cards, identity documents, tickets and payments.

Aquatrack – An agritech platform offering AI-driven farm management solutions tailored to fish farmers.Growwr – An AI-powered work platform that helps businesses hire, manage, and pay pre-vetted African tech talent quickly and securely.
Dingpay emerged as the grand prize winner. Its Co-founder, Itohowo Udofia, described the recognition as a powerful boost for the team.

The finalists were assessed by a distinguished panel of judges, including Dotun Adekunle, COO/CTO of OPay; Ime Enang, CEO of The Conversationalist Limited; Omotayo Idowu, Group Head, Commerce and SME at Providus Bank; Soibi Ovia, Partner at DAO Law and Austin Okpagu, Country Manager, Verto Nigeria.

Co-founder and CEO of Verto, Ola Oyetayo, said the award highlights the depth of innovation within Africa’s early-stage startup ecosystem.