Wema Bank Rewards 11 Innovators With N300m At Hackaholics 7.0
Wema Bank Plc says it rewarded 11 young Nigerian innovators with a combined N300 million at the seventh edition of its Hackaholics innovation programme for developing technology-driven solutions to challenges across various sectors.
The bank said this in a statement on Sunday in Lagos.
The competition, with the theme: “Festival of the Future”, attracted 5,329 participants who generated 1,632 ideas across seven pitch centres in Uyo, Kano, Yaba College of Technology, Benin, Ibadan, Enugu and Lagos.
The overall winner, Tony Nwose, founder of Niteon, received the N60 million grand prize for developing an agricultural technology platform connecting farmers with processors, financial services and market opportunities.
In the Startup/Ideathon category, Emmanuel Adeboje of Acceede, emerged first runner-up with N40 million, while David Lawani of All-Arbitrates came third with N20 million for his digital alternative dispute resolution platform.
In the Social Impact category, Kabir Olaosebikan of Craft Planet won N40 million for converting plastic waste into sustainable building materials.
Samuel Shonubi of SocialSign received N30 million for his sign language technology, while Oluwaseyi Akinlolu of Harthio won N20 million for his mental wellness solution.
Under the Women-Led category, Zainab Adeagbo of MamaAlert received N20 million for her digital healthcare innovation, while Precious Zino of URI won N10 million for her artificial intelligence-powered marketing solution.
In the Hackathon category, Kelvin Nnadi of Neural Forge received N30 million for his artificial intelligence-powered medical diagnostic innovation.
David Campbell of Nexa AI won N20 million for his customer intelligence solution, while Uti Henry of Vhorde received N10 million for IRIS, an artificial intelligence-powered smart glasses innovation designed to assist visually impaired people.
The Managing Director of Wema Bank Plc, Mr Moruf Oseni, urged banks, investors and corporate organisations to increase funding and institutional support for Nigerian startups.
Oseni said Nigeria had enormous entrepreneurial potential but required improved financial and institutional support to transform innovative ideas into viable businesses.
He identified inadequate access to funding as a major constraint confronting startups, noting that capital, mentorship, strategic partnerships and business networks were essential to their growth.
He challenged financial institutions, investors and corporate organisations to provide more resources and opportunities for young entrepreneurs to develop and commercialise their innovations.
Oseni also urged the finalists to remain persistent, emphasising that entrepreneurial success required continuous learning, adaptability and responsibility toward customers.
