Ecobank has announced the 20 finalists in the ‘Ecobank Fintech Challenge,’ who will exhibit and pitch their products to a jury for the ‘Ecobank Africa Fintech Prize’, where the top three innovators will win cash prizes worth US$10,000, US$7,000, and US$5,000 respectively.
Set to be held on June 21, 2017 at the global headquarters of Ecobank in Lomé, Togo. The awards ceremony also marks the official induction of all 20 start-ups into the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship.
According to Group CEO Ade Ayeyemi: “As a pan-African bank, we want to help grow pan-African fintech companies. The Ecobank Group and its partners are looking forward to working with the 20 start-ups to help them mature into major African and global commercial success stories.”
The 20 Ecobank Fintech Fellows will benefit from an opportunity to partner with the Ecobank Group that includes:
- Major start-up funding: worth up to US$500,000 for products that meet Ecobank’s investment criteria;
- Multinational product roll-out support: for the most commercially viable start-ups to launch their products across Ecobank’s 33 markets in Africa;
- Service provider & ecosystem partner deals: for start-ups with deep capabilities to become service partners within Ecobank’s ecosystem;
- Technical & mentoring support: during the one year fellowship period, fellows will benefit from technical support from Ecobank’s global network of technology leaders, fintech experts, investors and management coaches.
Eddy Ogbogu, Ecobank Group Executive for Operations and Technology said, “The Ecobank Fintech Challenge has been a huge success; over 850 start-ups and developers submitted products from all over Africa, as well as the US and Europe. The sheer breath of innovative products and ideas we’ve seen shows that African fintech has a bright future.”
The 20 start-ups are:
Piggybank.ng (Nigeria), Digi Teller (Ghana), MobiTill (Kenya), TEAM SAFEPAY (Kenya),
Wallettec (South Africa), Greenshoe (Kenya), Invest Mobile (Ghana), KUDI(Nigeria), Wayagear
Innovations Lagos (Nigeria), Paylater OneFi (Nigeria), PAYVITE (Algeria), PurseNG (Nigeria),
Shield Finance (Kenya), IroFit(Nigeria), Circle Group Savings and Investment (Kenya), Inclusive Financial Technologies (Ghana), Electronic Settlement Limited(Nigeria), Social Lender(Nigeria), General Marchant (United States), Mi Nafa (Burkina Faso).
