Three startups stood out. Three founders claimed their moment. At the Demo Day of the pilot Startup Launchpad Accelerator Program, held at The Nest Innovation Park, GoPrudy, InternPulse, and VeriTalent stood out as the top three winners among five finalists.
The program was held in partnership with the Lagos Innovates Team of Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF), and technical support from Optimus AI Labs, among other professionals.
Over the past three weeks, 15 startup founders received training and resources on incorporating AI into their businesses, along with mentorship to boost their growth. Only three earned the spotlight.
In the keynote address, Feyisayo Alayande, the executive secretary, LSETF, represented by Adekunle Oyenekan, head, Risk Management, Monitoring and Internal Control, LSETF, asserted:
“Entrepreneurship is the ability to face a thousand rejections, and still show up the next day with the same energy.” This was a summary of what every startup in that room had faced.
GoPrudy took the top spot with its focus on “Personal Finance, Management, Simplified for Africans. Budgeting and Finance Tracking that works.”
It’s a vision that aligns across a continent where financial literacy tools usually miss the mark. The startup’s focus on practical, culturally-aware financial solutions placed it ahead of others.
InternPulse took second place with a solution targeted at the tech talent pipeline: “We help aspiring developers, product designers, and product managers gain real working experience within 8 weeks.”
The startup’s mission is to shrink the skills gap affecting Africa’s thriving tech sector. With a focus on bootcamp graduates and giving them hands-on experience, InternPulse is standing at the heart of talent development.
VeriTalent came in third. With its AI-powered platform, it’s aiming to bolster career validation and employability tracking. Their pitch? “AI-powered Career Validation & Employability Intelligence Platform.” Data now shapes decisions, and this solution provides clarity for both employers and candidates.
The Demo Day was the capstone of the accelerator’s pilot phase, a completion of weeks of business model refinement, mentoring, and prototype development.
Each of the 15 startups that entered the program carried potential. But only five were able to pitch on Demo Day. We saw founders put everything on the line: their ideas, their execution, their grit.
The winners, GoPrudy, InternPulse, and VeriTalent, will receive access to the Lagos Innovates Workspace Vouchers, providing them with more time to develop their products and gain further mentorship and opportunities.
All five startups that pitched will also receive cloud credits from Simplified IQ, an edtech software as a service for assessments
Behind each pitch was a team. Behind each win, a story. And behind each story, the belief that Africa’s next breakout startup might not come from Silicon Valley copycats—but from those who truly understand the challenges we face, and choose to build anyway.
“AI is no longer a distant person which we all acknowledge and accept, but it is now a present, a phenomenon and a future theory. It is a solution and idea that must continue to drive.”
