The FCMB Hackathon Challenge concluded its inaugural event, crowning Team Hi-Tech, led by Afolabi Ayanfe and Sophia Ezeh, as the victors, securing a prize of N3 million for their creation of the digital financial solution, Padi4Life.
In collaboration with Ingressive For Good (I4G), the hackathon initiated a fresh cohort of tech enthusiasts, fostering innovation and creative problem-solving. With an overwhelming 2,900 entries and 60 competing teams engaged in a 72-hour hackathon, Team Hi-Tech’s Padi4Life stood out with its peer-to-peer lending, asset tokenization, and blockchain-based investment and engagement features.
Following closely, Rita Onwudiwe and Augustus Shaminga of Team KoloPadi secured the first runner-up prize of N1 million for their KoloPadi solution. Meanwhile, Victor Tochukwu of Team Xperia received the second runner-up prize of N500,000 for the Money Minder solution.
The total prize allocation amounted to N4.5 million. Despite reductions in team sizes as some members dropped off, resilient participants like Victor of Team Xperia remained undeterred, making it to the final shortlist as a one-person team.
Afolabi Ayanfe, the Team Lead of Hi-Tech, expressed appreciation to FCMB, highlighting that “Padi4Life aims to build a community of trusted financial partners, meeting the needs of Nigerians.” He reaffirmed the team’s commitment to creating a robust platform tailored to the needs of Nigerians, thanking First City Monument Bank for providing a launching pad.
Rolayo Akhigbe, Divisional Head of Transaction Banking at FCMB, emphasized the bank’s dedication to innovation through Open Banking. She urged FinTechs, developers, and startups to leverage FCMB’s Application Programming Interface (API) to develop inclusive and sustainable solutions.
Diran Olojo, Group Head of Corporate Affairs at FCMB, encouraged winners and participants to collaborate with the bank, underscoring that “the future is connected, and open banking is key to unlocking this potential.” FCMB is prepared to collaborate with innovators and invites the new generation of tech enthusiasts to join them in building the connected future of finance.
The hackathon’s panel of judges, led by Rolayo Akhigbe and including FCMB executives and Ingressive for Good CEO, Sean Burrowes, evaluated innovative concepts and technical skills. The event facilitated collaboration, networking, and an interactive ecosystem for knowledge exchange among participants.
First City Monument Bank, a member of the FCMB Group Plc, maintains its commitment to fostering inclusive and sustainable growth within its communities through such initiatives.
