Nigerian Tech Startups Dingpay, Aquatrack and Growwr win Verto Awards
Leading B2B global payments platform Verto has announced the winners of its inaugural Verto Award, a transformative initiative created to spotlight and elevate early-stage African startups that are redefining industries, building inclusive economic opportunities, and strengthening the continent’s role in global trade.
Launched in February 2025, the award reflects Verto’s commitment to fostering a new generation of promising sector-agnostic startups with global ambition, supporting them not only with capital but with visibility, international supplier connections, and the financial infrastructure needed to scale beyond their local markets.
Following months of evaluation and an extensive shortlisting process, the winners were announced at a vibrant awards ceremony held in Lagos on Friday, 21 November and attended by industry leaders, ecosystem partners, media representatives, and members of the Nigerian startup community.
Presented with USD 10,000, USD 3,000, and USD 2,000, respectively to accelerate their global expansion and streamline their cross-border operations, the winners are:
- Dingpay, a Nigerian fintech startup building an “offline-first” digital wallet that unifies bank cards, identity docs, tickets, and payments
- Aquatrack, a Nigerian agritech startup that provides an AI-powered farm management platform for fish farmers
- Growwr, a Nigerian AI-driven work platform that helps businesses hire, manage, and pay pre-verified African tech talent quickly and securely
Commenting on the win, Itohowo Udofia, co-founder of Dingpay, which secured the USD 10,000 grand prize, said, “We are honoured to be recognised as the winner of the Verto Award. This prize will enable us to scale faster, strengthen our operations, and unlock new market opportunities. It’s an incredible validation of our work, and we’re excited for what comes next.”
The finalists were carefully evaluated on innovation, feasibility, scalability, and market impact by a distinguished judging panel comprising of Dotun Adekunle, COO/CTO of OPay; Ime Enang, CEO of The Conversationalist Limited; Omotayo Idowu, Group Head, Commerce & SME of Providus Bank; Soibi Ovia, Partner at DAO Law; and Austin Okpagu, Country Manager, Verto Nigeria.
Speaking about the award, Ola Oyetayo, Co-founder and CEO of Verto, said, “This inaugural edition of the Verto Award has revealed just how much innovation, resilience, and global ambition exists within Africa’s early-stage startup ecosystem. The calibre of founders we’ve seen this year has been exceptional. As these businesses grow, expand, and strengthen international ties, we remain committed to providing the financial infrastructure that helps turn their global ambitions into reality.”
Through the Verto Award, the company continues to champion Africa’s emerging startups, supporting their growth, innovation, and international expansion.
