Winners of the ₦1 Million NiYA StartUp 1.0 Grant Now Receive One-Year Free Access to SMECORE

Seventeen young Nigerian entrepreneurs who emerged winners of the ₦1 million grant at the NiYA StartUp Pitch 1.0 have now been fully onboarded onto SMECORE — a leading digital enterprise platform designed to help small businesses operate more efficiently, track performance, and grow sustainably.

The announcement of the one-year free SMECORE access was made during the NiYA StartUp Pitch 1.0 event held two weeks ago in Abuja, organized by the Federal Ministry of Youth Development in collaboration with SMEDAN, Sapphital Limited, and SuperTeam Nigeria. The event brought together key institutions including the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), alongside other ecosystem partners, to celebrate innovation and youth entrepreneurship.

Now fully onboarded, the winners have begun using SMECORE to digitally manage and monitor every aspect of their business — from sales and revenue tracking to team performance, client management, ongoing projects, and operational tasks. Through its integrated dashboards and reporting tools, SMECORE provides these startups with real-time insights and data-driven intelligence that enhance decision-making and long-term business sustainability.

With SMECORE, the young founders can now:

Track sales and cash flow across all channels.

Manage projects, clients, and teams in one organized workspace.

Automate repetitive tasks and reduce administrative bottlenecks.

Generate reports instantly, ensuring full visibility into business performance.

Access their business data securely, anytime and anywhere.

According to Sapphital Limited, the creators of SMECORE, this support package was designed to go beyond funding — ensuring that each grant recipient has the digital foundation and structure required to sustain and scale their enterprise.

> “Access to finance gives you a start, but access to structure keeps you growing,” said Amu Ogbeide, Group CEO of Sapphital. “Through SMECORE, we are equipping young entrepreneurs with tools that help them stay organized, become investment-ready, and build the discipline required for lasting success.”

Over the past 12 months, SMECORE has recorded significant growth in adoption among Nigerian SMEs, positioning itself as the Digital Toolkit for Businesses seeking to streamline operations, improve productivity, and achieve better work-life balance through smart automation.

The initiative marks another milestone in the implementation of the Nigerian Youth Academy (NiYA) framework — connecting learning, skills, and enterprise for Nigerian youths under the leadership of the Federal Ministry of Youth Development and its partners.

By combining financial empowerment with digital infrastructure, this collaboration is shaping a new generation of tech-enabled entrepreneurs who are ready to build structured, scalable, and globally competitive businesses.