Ten startups have been awarded a share of $20,000 at the grand finale of MarkHack 3.0, one of Africa's leading marketing communications and technology hackathons. The event, organized by Eko Innovation Centre (EIC) in collaboration with GDM Group and Brand Communicator, showcased groundbreaking solutions from top teams after a rigorous months-long pitching process.
Team Chao claimed the top honor, followed by Team Converse AI as the second runner-up, and Team Market AI in third place. Alongside their cash prizes, all winning teams received $10,000 in AWS credits, laptops, access to the EIC Accelerator Program worth $10,000, and opportunities for seed investments from partner investors.
Victor Gbenga Afolabi, the visionary behind MarkHack, emphasized the importance of adapting to the rapidly changing marketing and media landscape, especially in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic, which accelerated the adoption of new technologies.
The event focused on four primary areas shaping the future of marketing: E-Commerce Evolution, AI-driven personalization, Blockchain for Business, and Localizing XR. With 2,733 registrations and submissions from 75 startups across four countries, the initiative was highly competitive. It included seven pre-conversation sessions with 17 industry experts and a pitch event judged by 19 selection jurors.
The top 10 teams progressed to the Mentor’s Nest phase, where they received guidance from 15 mentors on refining their solutions and achieving product-market fit. The final pitch event saw these teams present their innovations to a panel of seven final jurors, who selected the top three winners based on criteria such as market relevance, scalability, cost efficiency, team traction, pitch delivery, and disruptive potential.
Earlier in the day, the event featured an inaugural conference titled “Beyond Limits: Unleashing Creativity With Emerging Tech.” It focused on aligning with current trends and finding tech-driven solutions for the marketing communications industry, which PwC projects will reach N605.2 billion by 2028. The TEMPLARS Market Report forecasts an even higher projection of US$2 billion by 2025.
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