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Eko Innovation Centre, GDM Group Debut With MarkHack 1.0, Nigeria’s First Marketing And Media Hackathon

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Eko Innovation Centre, GDM Group Debut With MarkHack 1.0, Nigeria’s First Marketing And Media Hackathon, SiliconNigeria

L-R: Founder, Eko Innovation Centre, Mr. Victor Afolabi; Founder, Consumer Data Platform Institute (USA), Mr. David Raab; Chief Executive Officer, Entod Marketing Ltd., Mrs Iquo Ukoh; Principal Partner, Apex Marketing UK, Dr. Rotimi Olaniyan; and Executive Assistant to Lagos State Governor on New Media, Mr. Segun Fafore, at the official launch of Marketing and Media Hackathon tagged MarkHack 1.0 in Lagos.

In line with its goal of creating lasting solutions to real-life marketing challenges, Eko Innovation Centre, in collaboration with GDM Group has officially launched the maiden edition of its Media and Marketing Hackathon tagged MarkHack 1.0 which is also regarded as the first of its kind in Nigeria. 

 The two organizations are poised to change the marketing and media landscape with tech solutions that would disrupt and tackle some of the challenges faced in the industry.

The official launch of the hackathon which was held at the D’Podium Event Centre, Lagos was well attended by innovators, entrepreneurs, policymakers, marketing, and media professionals while many others across the world joined the event virtually. 

Organizers of the event revealed that over 500 individuals registered to participate in the hackathon from 72 locations, 5 countries (which includes Nigeria, California, Kenya, Pakistan, and London), and 3 continents (Africa, Europe, and North America). It also announced that the best 10 teams with the most viable concepts will go head-to-head at the finale on 18th May for a chance at the $20,000 prize pool and an acceleration program with up to $50K equity investment to get their products ready for the market among other benefits.

Speaking at the event the Founder, Eko Innovation Centre & Curator, Art of Technology Lagos, Mr. Victor Afolabi said that marketing is the most effective engine of economic development as it can rapidly develop entrepreneurs and managers but the industry is yet to see a technological breakthrough within the country considering the growth of Martech globally, an industry estimated at $344.8bn in 2021 according to Martech Alliance (2021).

In his words: “The Nigerian marketing industry has started to see preliminary innovation but acceleration is slow to disrupt the future in line with changing consumer behaviour. “We are yet to experience notoriety for a homegrown technological breakthrough at a remarkable scale in the Marketing Industry.” 

He stated further that the MarkHack was conceptualized to make a difference. According to him, it is “A gathering of innovators, entrepreneurs, Policymakers, and Marketing Professionals, to create solutions to real-life Marketing challenges in an intense period of time. Using creativity, technology, and mentoring, resulting in prototypes, fresh new concepts, and innovative usages of tech for Marketing and Media.”

The organizers disclosed that participants would be split into teams of 5 and would be required to work together for 3 weeks, brainstorming and ideating new concepts based on their focus areas. They would also be sub-grouped into 8 focus areas which include consumer experience, media consumption, consumer recruitment & interaction, trade & retail engagement, analytics and metrics, events marketing, media monetization, and content creation.

Each team would pitch its ideas to a respected Jury of experts in the subject matter, and the best 10 teams would be picked by theJurors. Overall, 21 Mentors, 30 Selection Jurors, 8 Speakers, and 6 Final Jurors are partaking in the event and are the industry’s best with decades of experience in marketing, media, technology, business management, and others.

Delivering the keynote address on the topic, “Tech Disruption in Marketing: The Key to Redefining Consumer Recruitment and Interaction”, David M. Raab, Founder/CEO, Customer Data Platform Institute urged marketers to be innovative, understand the concept of disruption and be deliberate about it, stating “Change is everywhere. Usable disruption is hard to find. Look for strong benefits and good defense. Support disruption with innovative solutions for business success.”

The Zone AOA Asst. Regional Manager (Sub Saharan Africa), Nestlé, Kayode Oladapo, and the Principal Partner, Apex Marketing UK, Dr. Rotimi Olaniyan also spoke on the topics “Experiences in the Marketing Ecosystem, Responding to Modern Consumer and Retail Audiences” and “Rapid Brand Innovation Playbooks” respectively. They cited the importance of data-inspired insights, marketing innovation, disruptive marketing strategies, and technology-driven initiatives among others. 

Some of the government officials at the event include Mr. Segun Fafore, The Executive Assistant to the Lagos State Governor on New Media, and Mr. Olatubosun Alake, Special Adviser to the Lagos State Governor on Innovation and Technology. They applauded the initiative and restated the government’s commitment to a technology-driven economy which is in line with the smart city agenda of the current Lagos State government.

Eko Innovation Centre is one of the leading tech hubs in Nigeria, curating events like Art of Technology Lagos, and The Lagos Smart Meter Hackathon amongst others while GDM Group is Nigeria’s leading marketing and innovation company. 

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Start-ups/Fintech

VPD Money Processes $200m As Transaction Growth Hits 2548%

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, SiliconNigeria

VPD Money, fintech, $200 million, transaction, Nigerian businesses, digital bank, neo-bank, , Mohammed Adeleke Liadi, Nigerian businesses, small and medium enterprises (SMEs), Africa, unifying wallet, bank account and AI-powered savings, unbanked people,

with volume rising to over 2,548 per cent for its customers since inception of operation two years ago.

The neo-bank with big dreams for the signed strategic partnership with key players in the industry both home and abroad, which has enabled it to on boarded over 50,000 customers to date.

VPD Money is a Pan-African fintech that has leveraged on partnerships to introduced unifying wallet, bank account and AI-powered savings experience at a very affordable cost, thereby lowering barrier to entry and providing access and opportunities to the outrageous over 1.7 billion unbanked people in the world (350 million of which are in Africa), as well as giving them the capability to create a “customized-banking” experience.

VPD Money’s Co-founder and Senior Product & Project Manager, Mohammed Adeleke Liadi, said the fintech startup instead of creating another typical incumbent or commercial bank, that have not catered to the unbanked or creating another generic digital bank, created a soothing platform for the unbanked and underserved. The unbanked people doesn’t necessarily mean they don’t have a job but the cost of entry to financial service is just too high for them. They have uncertainty to the benefits of being in the financial realm and of course, a rational decision, hence, they stay unbanked,” he said.

“Both individuals and businesses (SMEs) are using VPD Money services at the moment to customize their own banking experience as they deem fit. That’s why we tag it the “Bank of You”.

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Start-ups/Fintech

Google Stakes $4m Funding for Startups In Africa and Europe 

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, SiliconNigeria

Google has committed $4 million to support eligible black-founded startups in Africa and Europe in line with its commitment to digital transformation and support to black-founded startups. 

Startups operating and headquartered in Africa or having a legal presence on the continent are eligible to apply for the Black Founders Fund. 

Other eligibility criteria for startups that wish to apply are that the business should be benefiting the black community or that early-stage startups have black founders or diverse founding teams. The startups should be building for Africa and the global market, have the growth potential to raise more funding, create jobs and generally be making measurable impact.

Upon selection, the startups will receive up to $150,000 equity-free cash awards and up to $200,000 per startup in Google Cloud credits, support in the form of training, and access to a network of mentors to assist in tackling the challenges unique to each startup. The applications for the third cohort will close on 26 March, 2023.

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AfricaTech Awards to Honour Tech Entrepreneurs

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IFC and Viva Technology AfricaTech Awards climate change health care and financial inclusion, SiliconNigeria

IFC and Viva Technology today announced the second edition of the AfricaTech Awards, an initiative to spotlight Africa-focused companies with innovative solutions addressing key development challenges linked to climate change, health care, and financial inclusion.

Founders are invited to apply for the awards in three categories – climate tech, fintech, and health tech – on the awards’ website from February 27 to March 12, 2023. The winners of the awards will gain access to leaders and top executives in the tech industry and increased visibility among global investors, including IFC, one of the largest venture capital investors in emerging markets.

The inaugural edition of the awards launched last year attracted more than 300 applicants. WEEE Centre won the award in the climate tech category, Click2Sure in fintech, and Chefaa in health tech. Tech entrepreneurship can help drive economic growth in Africa and promote innovation and competitiveness in key sectors of the economy, including financial services, logistics, commerce, energy, and agriculture.

The 2023 AfricaTech Awards are part of IFC’s strategy to support tech ecosystems in emerging markets by providing startups with the capital, market expertise, and networks they need to scale. The winners of the AfricaTech Awards will be announced at Viva Technology 2023 from June 14-17 in Paris. Knowledge partner Deloitte will help shortlist the top 15 startups under each sector category. After a second round of review by the awards judging panel, the top three startups in each category will be invited to join Viva Technology in Paris and pitch their innovative solutions in front of a global audience of investors, government representatives, and top tech executives.

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