It has been over a month since the finale of DataHack4FI competition took place in Rwanda – an event which brought together programmers, data scientists and people from the financial world to build solutions that will increase financial inclusion in seven participating countries across Africa (Rwanda, Kenya, Zambia, Ghana, Uganda, Mozambique and Senegal).
A team from i2i have been on a roadshow in East Africa, and caught up with the three winning teams from the Uganda round of the competition – Alpha T, Insure Me, and #KillerAnalytics. The last of these went on to compete at the Grand Finale in Kigali on May 8-9th 2017, placing second overall.
Team #KillerAnalytics (which represents an existing enterprise called Smart Business Intelligence), was the most successful Ugandan team thanks to their product MYAccounts, a low-cost mobile-based tool that allows SMEs to record their basic transactions (sales, expenses, purchases, inventory, etc.) in an easy-to-use app.
#Killer Analytics, along with the other top four teams in the Grand Finale, were given the opportunity to pitch their solutions to potential investors during the “Face the Gorillas” sessions Transform Africa Summit 2017.
Having been offered a funding pledge during these sessions, #KillerAnalytics is currently in talks with investors and is preparing to go to market with MYAccounts.
The other top-placed Ugandan teams are continuing with the development of their winning ideas. InsureMe is a platform that monitors fuel consumption of boda boda (motorcycle taxi) riders to provide them with health insurance cover and Alpha T is a salary advance platform and tool that tracks income data and borrowing habits to determine whether a loan should be offered.
Keep an eye out for upcoming developments as these teams embark on their next steps!
Information about the finalists from the DataHack4FI competition can be found here.