Horizon AI has emerged as the winner of the third edition of the Payaza Fintech Hackathon. The team of three won the grand prize for their innovative solution, which uses AI to help MSMEs access loans and manage finances. The prize includes $5,000 and 10 weeks in the Payaza Incubator Program.
The Payaza Fintech Hackathon is an annual event that brings together tech innovators to solve fintech problems. Payaza drives innovation in the fintech industry by providing support through mentorship and prizes to teams solving real-world problems. This 3.0 edition themed “AI-powered financial inclusion for MSMEs: Empowering small businesses through AI-driven financial solutions.” was dedicated to solving finance problems specifically for micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) across Africa.
The MSME problem
With over 40 million MSMEs in Nigeria, small businesses are believed to be the backbone of the economy. These small businesses provide about 80% of employment in the country and make up an estimated 58% of its GDP. Despite holding up the economy, 90% of these MSMEs are in the informal economy. The informal economy refers to businesses that are usually untaxed or unregistered. These businesses bring in revenue but barely make profit because of several problems.
MSMEs in Africa suffer from two main problems: lack of access to finance and challenges to ease of doing business. Although 70% of business owners report borrowing money for their businesses, most of these loans come from family and friends. These loans are often to keep businesses afloat during tough times and do not contribute to helping them grow. Other problems like lack of reliable payment collection systems and logistical challenges make doing business difficult and hinder profit-making for MSMEs.
The Payaza Fintech hackathon 3.0 was an opportunity for fintech stakeholders, tech innovators, and key players in the business community to brainstorm and create solutions that encourage MSME growth. A thriving MSME sector will fuel economic growth by creating jobs, broadening the tax base, and increasing business revenue.
Using AI to innovate in fintech
The goal of the competition was to build inclusive, scalable, and impactful solutions that solve these problems using AI. The two-day event involved building real solutions with guidance from mentors.
Judges for the competition include Mustapha Garba, VP of engineering at Shara inc., Anuoluwapo Olayinka, CEO of Ignition Travels and Tour, Prosper Otemuyiwa, co-founder of EdenLife, Temitope Alabi, CEO of Afriex, Adekola Aderinko CIO at Optimus Bank, Hussain Shehu, senior product manager, at Toptal, Dumebi Chienye, CEO at Udohbe London, Collins Omokaro, senior investment expert at UNIDO ITPO, and Ewere Diagboya, the first AWS Community Hero in Africa.
Team mentors included Evioghene Osifo-Whiskey, COO at Bank78, Jessie Croffie, lead product manager at Tribapay, Tunde Adewole, co-founder of BridgeCards, Oladele Oloruntoba, regional lead at Innovest Afrika, Oluwafunsho Okubanjo, engineering manager at Deimos Cloud, and Ifeoluwa Oyeleke, MD of Rove VV.
Participating teams were;
Grand Prize Winner: Team Horizon AI
First runner-up: Team OGPay which was awarded $3,000 for its solution that simplifies data intelligence for MSMEs to help them manage their businesses.
Second runner-up: Team Innospace X – awarded $1,500 for creating an innovative interactive voice banking system to improve financial inclusion for MSMEs.
Other teams were team NoFail, team Thride, and Team Easy Record.
The winning team will spend the 10 weeks in the Payaza Incubator Program building their idea and bringing it to life to change the industry. According to Mustapha Garba, a hackathon judge, “This winning solution will do two things in the market. For MSMEs, it brings fragmented financial data into one place and helps businesses make sense of it while recommending financing solutions they can leverage to grow. On the other hand, credit providers can use this service to provide direct access to financing and also as an alternative source of data to score businesses.”
According to Payaza CEO, Seyi Ebenezer “Hosting this 3.0 hackathon reinforces Payaza’s commitment to driving innovation and empowering MSMEs. The winning team has demonstrated the power of AI to revolutionise the financial landscape and we’re proud to be at the forefront of this fintech revolution.”
For more information, visit Payaza Africa.
