Akwa Ibom technology entrepreneurs have been challenged to stop waiting for investors to discover them and instead build businesses capable of attracting global markets, as three startups shared ₦10 million in equity-free funding at Akwa Ibom Tech Week.

The challenge was issued by the President of Ibom Innovation Network, Hanson Johnson, who said the prize money was intended to remove one of the biggest barriers to startup growth — access to capital — and position local innovators to build billion-dollar companies from the state.

Johnson, who spoke at the fifth day of the technology conference in Uyo, said the organisers were investing in the future of the state’s innovation ecosystem, with the ambition of producing a company valued at $1 billion within five years.

“We are not putting in this money so that we get anything out of it. We are saying go build, and we trust you to be able to succeed from Akwa Ibom State, so that five years from now, we will have a company that is valued at $1 billion valuation,” he said.

The three winning teams emerged from a competitive process involving over 300 applications, with 30 shortlisted for evaluation before 10 finalists pitched their innovations.

Seplat Energy provided ₦5 million for the first prize, Ibom Air contributed ₦3 million for the second prize, while PitchNest provided ₦2 million for the third prize, bringing the total award to ₦10 million.

Johnson said the equity-free nature of the funding meant the beneficiaries could build their businesses without surrendering ownership to the sponsors.

The winner, Fortune Ishaku of AppLift Technologies Limited, described the victory as a defining moment for his business, pledging to use the opportunity to scale its operations.

“I genuinely didn’t believe I would even scale this far, and I’m really grateful and very happy,” Ishaku said.

He expressed hope that his success would encourage more startups to participate in future editions of the competition and eventually give back to the technology community that supported him.

The conference, themed “Scaling the Frontier: From Homegrown Innovations to Global Markets,” also featured panel discussions involving industry veterans, government officials and university representatives on strategies for building a sustainable innovation ecosystem.

In a keynote address, Dr Aristotle Onumo, representing the Director-General of the National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA), Kashifu Inuwa Abdullahi, said Akwa Ibom had the cultural heritage, talent and economic opportunities required to produce globally competitive technology businesses.

He drew attention to Nsibidi, the indigenous system of symbols used by communities in the Cross River Basin, including the Ibibios and Efiks, as evidence that local innovation was not foreign to the region.

“In other words, the first code written in this land was not imported; it was homegrown,” Onumo said.

He challenged innovators to build technology around local problems, insisting that the global market was more interested in the quality of solutions than the geographical origin of their creators.

“Global markets reward excellence, not origin,” he said.

Onumo identified agriculture, maritime services, indigenous languages, cultural products and energy technology as areas where Akwa Ibom startups could develop solutions with international relevance.

He urged founders to demonstrate that customers were willing to pay for their products, protect their intellectual property, comply with data protection regulations and build partnerships that would help their businesses expand.

“Investors are rewarding proofs, not promises,” he said.

The NITDA representative also called on investors to look beyond Lagos in identifying emerging technology companies, warning that the concentration of investment in established hubs could cause promising businesses elsewhere to be overlooked.

“Lagos is not the only place where startups exist. Some Nigerian top men, some big doors, some of those who are going to make the next big hit may be here in Uyo, may be here in Akwa Ibom,” he said.

He further challenged government and corporate organisations to create an enabling environment for local innovators to thrive without relocating to other cities.

“Let us keep removing barriers so that talent born in Akwa Ibom does not have to leave Akwa Ibom to go to Lagos, to go to Abuja, to go elsewhere,” Onumo said.