African startups took center stage at GITEX Nigeria 2025’s Supernova Challenge, competing for a $22,000 equity-free prize pool. Healthtech firm Curacel was named Overall Supernova Champion, earning the $10,000 grand prize and a sponsored trip to Barcelona for Tech Catalyst Week. The outcome capped a fast-paced finals day that showcased commercially grounded innovation spanning AI, agritech, mobility, and digital finance.
Overall Winner
Curacel’s pitch impressed judges with a clear problem statement, visible traction, and a scalable business model in health technology. The win positions the company for deeper investor exposure during Tech Catalyst Week and broader European market conversations. Organizers framed the award as validation of an execution-ready team operating in a sector where enterprise demand is rising.
Category Leaders
Category winners each secured $2,000 and visibility among global investors and partners. Build Africa topped the Artificial Intelligence track with a product emphasizing measurable efficiency gains. InCash led Digital Finance with a proposition centered on compliance-ready rails and monetization pathways, while Hadiya prevailed in Creative Economy and Martech with a market-expansion narrative grounded in audience data.
Agritech and Mobility Standouts
Acecore advanced agritech innovation by pairing yield improvements with pragmatic distribution strategies in fragmented supply chains. Kara distinguished itself in Mobility and Smart Cities through operational discipline and a credible route to unit-economics improvement. Judges cited clarity on customer acquisition costs and partnerships as differentiators for both teams.
Disruptor Recognition
HiPrep earned the Disruptor Award for challenging legacy models with a bolder approach to product and go-to-market execution. The jury pointed to a willingness to rethink assumptions and iterate quickly under real-world constraints. Organizers amplified that sentiment on Instagram, calling the winners “trailblazers” whose impact extends beyond national markets and signals a region ready to scale.
Program Structure and Timeline
This year’s competition followed a transparent, milestone-driven schedule designed to streamline selection and coaching. Applications closed on August 11, semi-finalists were announced on August 22, and pitch rounds ran on September 3 and 4. Teams were evaluated on idea quality, market opportunity, business model, traction, and team strength, with stage and years of operation considered in final scoring.
Sector Breadth and Pipeline
Semifinalist rosters underscored the event’s breadth across Agritech and Energy, Artificial Intelligence, Creative Economy and Martech, Digital Finance, Mobility and Smart Cities, and a dedicated Disruptor track. Names such as Edenly (Verti SAS), MyFoodAngels, Greenstride AgriTech, Switch Electric, Extension Africa, and Genesis360 reflected a pipeline balancing hard tech and practical, service-led deployments. The mix illustrated how founders are pairing AI with last-mile delivery, embedded finance, and climate-resilient agriculture.
Market Context
The competitive energy arrived as venture activity showed signs of a rebound across the continent. From January to May 2025, African startups raised more than $1 billion, an increase of roughly 40 percent compared with the same period in 2024. A recent Financial Times analysis also highlighted Nigeria and South Africa among Africa’s fastest-growing company bases, particularly in fintech and IT, reinforcing tailwinds for scale-focused founders.
GITEX Nigeria’s Supernova Challenge delivered more than cash prizes; it offered targeted investor access, partner visibility, and disciplined feedback loops. Curacel’s overall victory and the category wins for Build Africa, InCash, Hadiya, Acecore, Kara, and HiPrep reflect a cohort shifting from promise to performance. With clearer compliance rails, sharper unit economics, and cross-border ambitions, Africa’s next wave is signaling intent to compete on the world stage.