A total of 320 submissions were received for this year’s Safaricom Appwiz Challenge which is the third edition.
Following the closure of entry submissions, the submitted solutions are now being reviewed by a panel of industry experts, although organizers revealed that majority of the submissions are mobile and are targeting Customer Engagement and Mobile Convenience categories.
“We’re seeing a shift towards the development of unique solutions leveraging on mobile technology, a departure from past editions of the Appwiz Challenge where entrants focused largely on creating apps. This year we revamped the categories to allow more diverse entries and the applicants have risen to the challenge,” said Safaricom’s Director of Strategy and Innovation, Joseph Ogutu.
This year’s edition kicked off on 20 July and participants were asked to develop and submit their ideas (within a month) in any of four categories – Customer Engagement Solutions, Safaricom Product Excellence Solutions, Mobile Convenience and Out of the Box Solutions.
Judges will be focusing on the business potential of the submitted solutions. This will now be followed by the interview stage in which the startup’s team structure will be evaluated in addition to the prototype of the solution as well as the market potential of the solution.
