YAPPI Innovators Unveil Innovative 3D Creations

By Blessing Famose and Barakat Lawal

NEOGEN

The recently concluded Youth in Animation and Post Production Initiative (YAPPI) Demo Day and Career Fair, organized by Del-York Academy, displayed creativity at its peak as ten groups of talented young animators pitched their innovative 3D creations. The event, which held on February 27, 2025, at the Digital Bridge Institute’s Multipurpose Hall in Oshodi, featured panel discussions, project pitches, a career fair, and a showcase of students’ work.

The participating animation groups included Kairoskreative, Neogen Motion 3D, Vividify, Hexa Studios, Pixel Verse, Omnivision, Render Verse, and Sweez Studios, among others. These aspiring animators presented their projects, demonstrating their creative vision, storytelling skills, and proposed budgets for bringing their ideas to life.

Each group’s presentation was evaluated by a panel of judges from the animation industry, who assessed factors such as the quality of the pitch, originality of the ideas, level of investment, and feasibility of the proposed budgets.

After careful deliberation, Neogen Motion 3D emerged as the winner with their innovative pitch, which aims to showcase African heritage through animation. Their victory earned them a cash prize of 2 million naira, a tablet, a one-year workspace voucher, and a trackpad for each team member.

Speaking to Unilag Sun, Peace Oyerinde, the team lead for Neogen Motion 3D, reflected on the challenges faced during their project’s development. One major hurdle was the difficulty in locating required items at various malls, which led to excessive travel and increased costs. To tackle this, the team devised a virtual mall inventory-checking solution, significantly reducing transportation expenses. This innovation holds potential not just for malls but also for museums and educational institutions.

Commenting on the victory, which he described as expected, Oyerinde said, “During our first virtual presentation, I had a feeling we were going to win. We had just completed our initial rendering of the museum, and while rehearsing, we showcased what we had created. The judges, who are employees of YAPPI in the animation sector, were amazed. They asked if it was real and whether we had created it ourselves. That’s when I realized we were going to win.”

Pixel Verse secured second place with its innovative pitch, which seeks to revolutionize digital fashion by transforming garments into pixels, adding depth and character to virtual fashion icons. In recognition of their creativity, Pixel Verse was awarded a cash prize of 1 million naira, plus an additional 1 million naira from one of the event’s sponsors. Their prize package also included a tablet, a six-month workspace voucher, and two tracking pads.

Felix Obafemi, the team lead, highlighted the challenges faced during preparation: “We encountered inadequate time, technical difficulties, and coordination issues, but we learned throughout the journey, enforced collaboration, and it ultimately worked.”

Having reached this milestone, the team aims to invest more in production and team development, and they are now equipped with a ready team and studio.

Pitch Fox Studios secured third place with their creative pitch, which aims to support women’s health and pregnancy monitoring while reducing mortality rates through the use of animation and Virtual Reality (VR).

Reflecting on the event’s impact, Mr. Linus Idahosa, CEO of Del-York Group, emphasized the need for platforms that allow talented individuals to showcase their creativity and pursue their dreams. He also stressed that while creativity is vital, understanding the business side of the industry is equally crucial. This is why Del-York remains committed to helping creatives bridge the gap between artistry and industry.

About YAPPI – Youth in Animation and Post Production Initiative.

In a brief interview with Unilag Sun reporters, the CEO of Del-York Group, Mr. Linus Idahosa, revealed the vision behind the mind-blowing initiative, YAPPI, and how it has evolved.

What inspired the idea of YAPPI, and how has it evolved since its inception?

Del-York Creative Academy is a subset of the Del-York Group, one of our verticals under the organization. For the past 10–12 years, we have focused on building capacity for those in the creative industry across the country. We started with a partnership with the New York Film Academy in the USA, flying their lecturers in to train aspiring and professional filmmakers and broadcast journalists across Nigeria. In doing so, we realized there was a significant gap in the animation space.

As we know, the animation industry is valued at $600 billion, yet Africa’s share in the global trade in animation is still less than 2%. We decided to focus heavily on animation, identifying young people, especially women, who are gifted in this field. Our goal is to mobilize their energy and train them to become better animators, not only for the Nigerian market but also to increase Africa’s share in the distribution of animated products globally. This was how YAPPI was birthed.

We partnered with the Mastercard Foundation, which understood our vision and decided to support us on this journey. So far, it has been an incredible experience.

Considering that the Demo Day and Career Fair is a maiden event for YAPPI, what would you say is your key takeaway from this event?

Talents! Talents!! Talents!!!

We are blessed with incredible talent from all across this country, but what is most important is how people can convert the talent they have into craftsmanship, and not just craftsmanship, but commercial success. Talented individuals need platforms and the right structure to create capital for themselves.

The biggest takeaway from this event is people learning how to pitch their creativity to help propel their dreams forward. It is one thing to be a creative, but it is another thing to understand the business of being in the creative industry. We are helping them bring both worlds together—the intersection between commerce and creativity.