30 teams shortlisted for the 2023 HiPipo Women in FinTech Hackathon. Exciting innovations ahead

Kampala, Uganda – August 2, 2023: The anticipation is building as the stage is set for the 2023 HiPipo Women in FinTech Hackathon, with an impressive lineup of thirty (30) teams from Uganda and Kenya making it to the shortlist. The selection process was rigorous, meticulously curated from over 100 innovative submissions received in the last two months.

The chosen teams will converge in Kampala from August 10th to 17th, 2023, embarking on an exciting journey to transform their ideas into groundbreaking financial technology products and solutions. Their innovation spans diverse sectors, including Payments, Savings & Loans, E-commerce, E-Health, Fundraising, AgriTech, E-Insurance, and Remittances.

Charlotte Neeza, FinTech Events Manager at HiPipo, expressed her enthusiasm, attributing the Hackathon’s growing popularity to the surge in enthusiasm and a steadfast will to innovate. The decision to expand the scope of this year’s edition to include thirty teams was fueled by the remarkable growth from twenty teams in the 2022 event.

“We are thrilled to introduce this year’s participants in the Women in FinTech Hackathon. The consistent advancement from 2021 to last year’s count of 20 teams is a testament to the trust and faith young innovators place in this project. The triumphs of past contestants, from mentorship to product design and seed capital acquisition, continue to inspire both returning and new participants,” said Neeza.

She emphasized that each team in this year’s competition is characterized by women-driven leadership, with a majority of women members, underlining the commitment to empower and spotlight female innovators in the field.

The Women in FinTech Hackathon is part of HiPipo’s comprehensive Women in FinTech initiative, which includes a Summit and Incubator program. The initiative aims to bridge gender disparities in the financial technology industry by empowering women with digital and financial inclusion skills, enabling them to innovate and thrive.

From 2020 to 2022, the Women in FinTech initiative has engaged over 4,000 participants, with more than 300 women receiving essential training. Many of these women have become qualified Software Engineers and Computer Science specialists, with their achievements extending beyond the classroom. They have introduced financial technology products that reshape communities and secured seed capital for their ventures.

The Hackathon’s grand finale, the Women in FinTech Summit on August 18th, will recognize and reward outstanding teams and individuals, sharing a collective prize money of USD 10,000. The winners will also earn coveted spots in the Women in FinTech Incubator program, offering a launchpad to further innovation and success.

Below are the 30 shortlisted Teams and their Leaders.

The HiPipo Women in FinTech Hackathon is more than a competition; it is a transformative platform for innovation and empowerment. The initiative, supported by esteemed partners like Level One Project, Mojaloop Foundation, INFITX, Cyberplc Academy, Ideation Corner, and Crosslake Technologies, extends a sincere appreciation to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation for their generous backing, which has made this visionary endeavour a thriving reality.