Covenant University’s Devspace wins Hult Prize Nigeria 2026, earns a spot in the global competition for $1M prize

The air inside the University of Lagos was different on May 9. There was the usual hum of a well-organised Hult Prize Nigeria event, logistics staff moving with purpose, judges reviewing notes, student teams rehearsing pitches in corners, but underneath all of it was something harder to name.

Call it conviction. Over 600 student startups had entered this year’s Hult Prize Nigeria competition. Only 25 made it to the room, and every single one of them believed they had something worth fighting for.

By the end of the day, Devspace from Covenant University had emerged as the national winner of the 2026 Hult Prize Nigeria Nationals, earning the opportunity to represent the country at the Hult Prize Digital Incubator, the international acceleration programme that sits one step away from the global finals and a $1 million prize.

The University of Ibadan’s Blank Book placed second, followed by Covenant University’s Aquanut in third. The remaining top eight finalists were Blood Deck from Lead City University, Zisocare and Amana from Bayero University Kano, Skycorv from Kwara State University, and Tropical from the University of Uyo.

The Hult Prize is widely regarded as the world’s largest student social entrepreneurship competition, described in many circles as the “Nobel Prize for Students.” Backed by Hult International Business School and the United Nations, it challenges university teams to build for-profit ventures that address urgent global problems. This year’s Nigeria Nationals drew 44 universities and 609 registered startups before the field was narrowed to the 25 that pitched in Lagos.

Watching those 25 teams pitch was a reminder of how much talent remains untapped in Nigerian universities. The ideas that came to the stage spanned climate, healthcare, agriculture, education, fintech, and social impact, and they were not theoretical. These were students who had been through months of campus programmes, mentorship sessions, and selection rounds. By the time they arrived at UNILAG, they had been sharpened.

“What people don’t see are the sleepless nights”

For Olamide Otasanya, the Hult Prize Nigeria National Coordinator, the day carried a weight that went beyond the competition itself. In an interview on the sidelines of the event, he was reflective about what it took to get there.

“The biggest challenge, without question, was resources,” he said. “Funding remains one of the toughest realities for ecosystem-building initiatives in Nigeria. Our team had to go all out, making countless calls, pitching relentlessly to partners, securing collaborations, and stretching every available resource to ensure the vision did not collapse under financial pressure. What many people see on event day is the polished outcome. What they often do not see are the sleepless nights.”

Otasanya’s journey with Hult Prize began as a campus director at the University of Ilorin, where he helped build a community that eventually earned the Sub-Saharan Africa Programme of the Year recognition. He has now coordinated two consecutive national competitions.

The progression was visible in how this year’s event carried itself: structured, high-energy, and attended by venture capitalists, startup ecosystem leaders, corporate executives, university representatives, and innovation stakeholders from across Nigeria.

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“This moment is bigger than an event,” he told me. “It is a strong statement about the capacity of young Nigerians to build solutions for real-world problems when given the right platform, structure, and support. What they often lack is access, funding, and institutional support, not ideas, not ambition, not talent.”

Hult Prize: Beyond the competition

Devspace now advances to the Hult Prize Digital Incubator, where it joins selected startups from around the world in an intensive international acceleration programme, receiving mentorship, strategic business training, investor access, and funding opportunities as they compete for a place at the Global Finals.

But Otasanya is already thinking past the competition cycle. The next phase for Hult Prize Nigeria, he said, is not about hosting better events. It is about sustainability.

“Too many brilliant ideas die because founders lack access to the right ecosystem after competitions end. We want to change that narrative,” he said. “We are moving beyond annual competitions into building a stronger national innovation community that continuously supports young entrepreneurs throughout the year.”

The vision includes deeper collaborations with government institutions, private sector players, development organisations, and ecosystem builders, creating what Otasanya describes as a national pipeline for young innovators that does not begin and end with a pitch.

Standing in the room at UNILAG as the awards were announced, watching the Devspace team receive their recognition, that pipeline felt less abstract. These were not students merely performing for judges. They were founders who had come to a room and proven something, to the panel, to each other, and perhaps most importantly, to themselves.

Nigeria has one of the youngest and most entrepreneurially active populations on the continent. What Hult Prize is trying to do, carefully, year by year, campus by campus, is make sure that the population has somewhere to go with what it builds.