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Wema Bank Plc has rewarded 11 young Nigerian innovators with a total of N300 million at the seventh edition of its Hackaholics innovation programme, aimed at supporting entrepreneurship and promoting technology-driven businesses.
The winners were announced at the grand finale of Hackaholics 7.0, themed Festival of the Future, held in Lagos. The competition featured innovative solutions addressing challenges in agriculture, healthcare, financial services, environmental sustainability and social inclusion.
The overall winner, Tony Niteon Nwose, founder of Niteon, received the N60 million grand prize for developing an agricultural technology platform that connects farmers with processors, financial services and market opportunities.
In the Startup/Ideathon category, Emmanuel Adeboje of Acceede emerged first runner-up, winning N40 million, while David Lawani of All-Arbitrates came third with N20 million for his digital alternative dispute resolution platform.
In the Social Impact category, Kabir Olaosebikan of Craft Planet won N40 million for developing a solution that converts plastic waste into sustainable building materials.
Samuel Ayomide Shonubi of SocialSign received N30 million for his sign language technology, while Oluwaseyi Whyte Akinlolu of Harthio won N20 million for his mental wellness solution.
Under the Women-Led category, Zainab Boluwatife Adeagbo of MamaAlert emerged winner, receiving N20 million for her digital healthcare innovation. Precious Zino of URI took home N10 million for her artificial intelligence-powered marketing solution.
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In the Hackathon category, Kelvin Nnadi of Neural Forge won N30 million for his AI-powered medical diagnostic innovation. David Campbell of Nexa AI received N20 million for his customer intelligence solution, while Uti Henry of Vhorde won N10 million for IRIS, an AI-powered smart glasses innovation designed to assist visually impaired people.
Speaking at the event, Wema Bank’s Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Moruf Oseni, said Nigeria had enormous entrepreneurial potential but required stronger financial and institutional support to turn innovative ideas into successful businesses.
He identified inadequate access to funding as a major challenge facing startups, stressing that capital, mentorship, strategic partnerships and business networks were critical to transforming ideas into commercially viable ventures.
Oseni urged banks, investors and corporate organisations to increase their support for young entrepreneurs by providing the resources and opportunities needed to develop their businesses.
He also encouraged the finalists to remain persistent, noting that entrepreneurial success required continuous learning, adaptability and a strong sense of responsibility towards customers.
The competition attracted 5,329 participants, who developed 1,632 ideas across seven pitch centres in Uyo, Kano, YabaTech, Benin, Ibadan, Enugu and Lagos.
