By Adedapo Adesanya
Five finalists, including the eventual winner of MarkHack 2.0, Aremu, will undergo a 3-month incubation programme at the Eko Innovation Centre and receive a seed capital of $50,000 at the end of the programme.
This is according to Mr Victor Afolabi, the curator of MarkHack and founder of Eko Innovation Center and Art of Technology Lagos.
The grand finale of the event took place over the weekend in Lagos, and it involved three months of innovative pitch sessions, workshops, masterclasses, and mentorship sessions aimed at helping participants develop skills and providing them with the resources needed to transform their ideas into market-ready products.
Mentorship and free working space at the Eko Innovation Centre and other consolation prizes also await the other finalists.
Aremu, a robo-marketing tool that helps businesses run experiments to improve their product metric and conversion rate, beat nine other startups to clinch the grand prize of $5,000 at the grand finale of the event in Lagos.
The startup defeated Ozi, a web application that helps businesses acquire, engage and manage customer conversions all from one place, which emerged as the first runner-up, carting away the sum of $3,000, while Zander, a web-enabled and user-customized response AI tool for automating social media marketing/management and all brand campaign processes emerged as the second runner-up with a prize of $2, 000.
Speaking on this, Mr Tosin Adelowo, co-founder of Aremu, stated that the win serves as a validation of the enormous potential in Nigeria’s creative sector and commended Eko Innovation Center for the MarkHack platform.
“Indeed, this win is a validation that team Aremu can bring this great idea and vision to life with the potential of becoming a global brand in a few years,” Mr Adelowo remarked.
He further expressed appreciation to the organizers of MarkHack for creating the platform that provides an opportunity for new ideas to be birthed in the creative space.
Mr Azeez Adejumo, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ozi.ng, the second prize winner, lauded the Eko Innovation Centre for promoting a culture of excellence in the discovery of new talents and ideas that will shape the future.
“Getting into incubator programs has not been easy for us as entrepreneurs in Nigeria; however, MarkHack has set a pace by opening the doors of opportunity for entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas on a level playing field and get mentorship on how to scale their businesses,” he said.
Themed Unlocking the Power of the Creative Economy, with focus areas on Immersive Experience (XR), Content Creation, and Robo Marketing, MarkHack 2.0 is the second edition of Nigeria’s first and biggest marketing and media hackathon, MarkHack, curated by GDM Group and Eko Innovation Center. It climaxed on a disruptive note, with 10 startups engaging in an innovative pitch contest of ideas before industry experts.
The top 10 startups that spiced up the evening with their innovative pitch sessions were Aremu; Ozi; Zander; Weeshr; Markett AI; VirtualX; Contenting; Shopalz; ShopXR, and GetSeen.
The event gathered innovators, techies, entrepreneurs, policymakers, media mavens, marketing professionals, and corporate moguls who collaborated to create innovative solutions to real-time marketing and media challenges. It was characterized by igniting imaginations, unleashing tech’s potential, crafting creative marvels, illuminating the media sphere, and revolutionizing innovation.
The event’s second edition recorded over 1,365 applications from 92 locations across Europe, Asia, and Africa, all of which were judged by 22 industry experts.
GDM Group, the curator of MarkHack, is a leading marketing and media technology company renowned for bespoke service offerings ranging from marketing tech solutions, big data management, and 360 integrated marketing services.
With MarkHack 2.0, GDM Group and Eko Innovation Center reaffirmed their purpose of supporting enterprises by leveraging innovation and technology at the heart of businesses.
Modupe Gbadeyanka