Wema Bank’s Hackaholics 4.0 winner is IRETI, a health-tech firm that helps women manage breast cancer and close the gender gap.
At the Wema Bank/ALAT Hackaholics Digital Summit and Grand Finale, titled “Re-imagine: Disrupting the Ecosystem for Scale,” which took place in Lagos on Friday, the winner was declared.
The winner of the N15 million cash prize for the best pitched firm was IRETI. The first runner-up, a financial startup called GRIP, received N10 million, and the second runner-up, Trakka, received N7 million.
Outsidee also took home the N5 million Women Led Award, which was established to encourage women in technology.
Additional winners include MumAlive in the health startup category, Naijabox for the best energy startup, PUP Industries for the best climate subset, Chao for the e-commerce category, and University-X for the edutech category.
IRETI, GRIP, Trakka, Outsidee, Chao, Raptor, Pup Industries, University-X, Naijabox, and MumAlive are the ten finalists for the Hackaholics 4.0 competition.
The Wema Bank Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics Endowment Fund was also awarded to three universities. The amounts are as follows: N10 million for Babcock University, N7 million for Afe Babalola University, and N5 million for Nile University.
Because we are collaborating with NGOs, we will be able to reach out to women in both rural and urban regions going forward.
After accepting the award, Jane Agbaohwo, founder and creative director of IRETI, stated that, “We are reaching out to them; helping them to create awareness about breast cancer – it kills, but you stand a chance to live if you detect early and start treatment on time.”
MD/CEO, Wema Bank, Moruf Oseni: The bank’s profound integration of technology and traditional banking know-how has given them the chance to assist in the development of Nigeria’s tech sector.
We also acknowledge that science, technology, engineering, and math education must receive significant attention from any economy that is serious about sustainable economic and social growth. Sports and entertainment have improved Nigeria’s reputation internationally, but Oseni claimed that these industries are powerless to foresee the infrastructural and technological gaps that will prevent Nigeria from realizing its full potential.
During a keynote speech, Olugbenga Agboola, the founder and CEO of Flutterwave, stated that occasions such as Hackaholics 4.0 can offer noteworthy chances to entrepreneurs who are using technology to address regional and worldwide problems. He gave Wema Bank credit for setting up systems that encourage creativity in the fintech sector.
The digital summit unites digital innovators, visionaries, and industry leaders from throughout Nigeria, according to Tunde Mabawonku, ED, retail and digital business, Wema Bank. The key is to use startup founders’ combined potential to push the envelope of what is conceivable in the digital era.
He claims that the Hackaholics theme for this year perfectly captures the spirit of the bank’s innovation initiative. It captures our unwavering faith in a world in which change is the only constant. What makes us unique is our capacity to rethink and challenge the status quo, according to Mabawonku.
