KOICA and SMEDAN’s ACE Startup Academy Holds Pitch Competition Final

On 15 October 2026, the ACE Startup Academy held its final round of a pitch competition at the E-Government Training Centre auditorium in Abuja. The competition was part of the "Project for Establishing a Startup Digital Innovation Academy to Support Youth and SME Innovation Growth in Nigeria," supported by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN). A consortium of Soongsil University, Maincontents, and Eduniety Lab implemented the project.

The competition began with 3,856 applicants, of which 120 teams were selected for the training program. After completing courses in business modelling and digital and AI capabilities, 45 teams moved on to the preliminary round, held on 7 and 8 October. The final round featured the remaining 10 teams, who presented their ideas on stage and faced a panel of five judges. The judges were chaired by Mrs. Ifeanyi Iloh of Ventures Park, with representatives from SMEDAN, Steady Anchor Limited, and the KOICA Nigeria Office.

The final round was conducted through an online judging solution developed by Lim Han-kyu, CEO of Maincontents. Teams uploaded all necessary materials, including pitch decks, MVPs, and demo video links, directly to the platform. Judges accessed these materials simultaneously while scoring on their laptops. The system automatically compiled results and retained a full scoring record, eliminating the need for manual tallying.

Loghema, an AI service that recognizes scripture references spoken during sermons and displays the verse on screen within seconds, took first place with the Grand Prize of US$5,000. The team aimed to assist Nigeria's over 100,000 churches. The Excellence Award of US$3,000 went to Tita Universal Services Ltd for an AI platform that generates lecture timetables for tertiary institutions, reducing room clashes and omitted courses.