In line with Moringa School’s commitment to nurturing African tech talent, the institution partnered with I&M Bank LTD in organizing an exciting hackathon where its alumni participated.
A fintech solution developed by one of the alumni teams during the just concluded Sankalp Africa Summit 2022 won an Sh50,000 cash prize courtesy of I&M Bank LTD.
The Y-Chama platform was declared the winner during a virtual hackathon conducted between March 1 and March 4, 2022.
Through the Y-Chama App, the group aimed to address a gap in access to financial services and empowerment for the youth of campus-going age. The winning app was designed to provide access to various Chama groups as well as provide helpful personal finance tips.
Runners up were also selected from three other exciting fintech platforms – Inshwari, Sasa Coin, and Farm Tech – all developed by Moringa School alumni.
Speaking on the winning presentation during Demo Day on March 3, one of the judges emphasized that a good fintech product manages to serve a customer’s need while making it easy for partners to buy into the platform’s story.
“You did an amazing job in terms of your presentation; you really understand your customer and their needs. You brought us into your story, we were all able to understand the product and that’s an example of a good product.
“It’s amazing what you were able to share with us after just three days. One of the judges’ points to look out for is the immense competition in the space. There are a lot of startups and fintech in the space, so what are you going to do to get differentiated? Also, another thing to look out for is how will you build trust with the chamas?” judge Wangari Stewart relayed.
Why a hackathon?
A hackathon is a time-bound competitive event where participants collaborate to build a proof of concept and minimum viable products for a specific pre-defined problem.
Under the theme “Innovative & Sustainable Fintech Solutions that will drive the Future of Africa”, the four teams had been challenged with the problem statement: “Are there any other smart ways to explore as a way of improving & solving problems around FinTech in Africa? Using emerging technologies in your proposed solution, let’s hear your innovative ideas!”
The hackathon was conducted in phases, including ideation, proposal & selections phase; prototyping, and finally, presentations & judging phase where the best platform won.
The teams were mentored by Francis Kipchumba, Software Engineer at Moringa School, Francis Kipchumba and George Okumu, Front End Web Developer at Moringa School.
The presentations were judged by Samuel Munyili, Tech Lead at I&M Bank LTD; Grace Mberia, Innovative and Inclusive Finance Pillar Lead at KPMG and Chief Product Officer at Maisha Meds, Wangari Stewart.