Three youth-led startups — Geocycle, Ecobag Mart and Leovia Farms — have emerged top winners at the Greenlabs Cohort 2 “Powering Food Systems” Demo Day, securing pre-seed funding to scale solutions targeting Nigeria’s food insecurity, post-harvest losses and climate pressures.
The Demo Day, hosted under the Greenlabs Incubation Programme powered by the Consumer Advocacy and Empowerment Foundation (CADEF) in partnership with Jacobs Ladder Africa (JLA), spotlighted 16 innovators selected through a nationwide call and intensive mentor-guided screening process.
Organisers said the winning solutions stood out for their scalability, environmental sustainability and potential to strengthen fragile agricultural value chains. The pre-seed support will fund prototype refinement, business registration, market validation and early commercial deployment.
Other finalists showcased at the event included Agricool and Dry Heat Solutions, with all participants advancing into a structured nine-month incubation programme focused on enterprise development, expert mentorship and access to growth resources aimed at transforming early-stage ideas into viable green businesses.
Delivering the keynote on behalf of the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Agriculture and Food Systems, Emmanuel Audu Fatai described the emergence of the winners as proof that youth innovation is becoming central to Africa’s food future.
According to him, the continent’s vast agricultural potential continues to coexist with food shortages, climate stress and weak value chains, making technology-driven and energy-efficient solutions critical to achieving sustainable food security.
Executive Director of CADEF, Prof. Chiso Ndukwe-Okafor, said the selection of the three winners reflects the programme’s shift from ideas to impact-driven enterprises capable of creating jobs and delivering measurable community value.
She added that beyond funding, the incubation framework is designed to instil financial discipline, integrity and long-term business sustainability among participating founders.
Chief Innovation Officer at Jacobs Ladder Africa, Karen Chelang’at, noted that the winning solutions directly address real food-system failures through renewable-energy integration, loss reduction and productivity improvement across sectors such as poultry, aquaculture and agricultural logistics.
She emphasised that the ultimate measure of success will be the ability of the startups to achieve market readiness, scale operations and generate tangible economic and environmental impact.
Organisers stressed that while policy support remains important, cross-sector collaboration and youth-driven enterprise will play a decisive role in building resilient food systems and advancing Nigeria’s transition to a green economy.
With incubation now underway and funding secured, the emergence of Geocycle, Ecobag Mart and Leovia Farms marks a significant step toward translating youth innovation into practical solutions for Nigeria’s food and climate challenges.
