Ecobank has announced the finalists of its $500,000 Ecobank Fintech Challenge which is a competition for financial technology startups in Africa.
From the hundreds of received applications, 20 FinTech startups were selected from across the continent and they will feature in the Ecobank Fintech Fellowship programme.
An innovation fair and awards ceremony will be held on 21 June at Ecobank’s headquarters in Lomé, Togo to honour them. In addition to this, they will also get the chance to exhibit and pitch their products to a jury which will select the top innovator and two runners-up.
The top three innovators will win cash prizes worth $10,000, $7,000, and $5,000 respectively.
Each of the 20 startups will also get support which includes:
- Major startup funding: worth up to $500,000 for products that meet Ecobank’s investment criteria.
- Multinational product rollout support: for the most commercially viable startups to launch their products across Ecobank’s 33 markets in Africa.
- Service provider and ecosystem partner deals: for start-ups with deep capabilities to become service partners within Ecobank’s ecosystem.
- Technical and 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.
Ade Ayeyemi, The Group CEO of EcoBank said: “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 start-ups selected are:
Nigeria: Piggybank.ng, PurseNG, KUDI, IroFit, Wayagear Innovations Lagos, Electronic Settlement Limited, Social Lender, and Paylater OneFi.
Ghana: Digi Teller, Invest Mobile, and Inclusive Financial Technologies.
Kenya: Circle Group Savings and Investment, Greenshoe, MobiTill, TEAM SAFEPAY, and Shield Finance.
South Africa: Wallettec
Algeria: Payvite
Burkina Faso: Mi Nafa
US: General Marchant
