Lagos, Nigeria — During the 2019 Techpoint Inspired conference on Saturday the 1st of June, 7 Nigerian technology entrepreneurs pitched their solutions in the Inspired Technovation Challenge.
Their solutions are Afro 24/7, Agriple, Digital Bot, Intelligent Education Management and Information System, NATRICS power manager, SkillRev, and Grad-forth Technology,
These finalists had been selected from a pool of over 100 initial applicants. The Inspired Technovation Challenge sought “disruptive and tech-driven innovations that have the potential to transform Africa’s future of work”.
The Inspired Technovation Challenge is the brainchild of a partnership between Techpoint Africa and the University of Sussex and was birthed to encourage innovation on the continent.
The ideas were pitched to a panel of independent judges that comprised of Bayo Adekanmbi, Chief Transformation Officer at MTN Nigeria, Prof. Maziar Nekovee, Professor, Engineering & Design, Sussex University, UK, Rolayo Akhigbe, Divisional Head, Transaction Banking, FCMB, Judith Okonkwo, Founder Imisi3D, and Akin Ajiboye, manager at Fleetpartners.
At the end of the competition, Liberty Oyugboh of NATRICS power manager emerged winner.
NATRICS is a system that enables remote regulation of electrical appliances via mobile phones.
Liberty walked away with a £60,000 scholarship from the University of Sussex and ₦70,000 cash prize money.
SkillRev and Grad-forth Technology emerged 1st and 2nd runner-ups and were given ₦50,000 and ₦30,000 respectively.
Speaking on the challenge, a representative from the University of Sussex said,
“As an institution, we strongly believe that technology drives the present and is the key to the future, therefore it is important for us to provide support for the young people who, through their ingenuity, are creating a better world through their technological innovations.”
“We truly hope that these young technovators and others from all around the world would take advantage of the future focused courses (including Data Science, Robotics, 5G Mobile Technologies & Embedded Systems and many more) at the University of Sussex to make their dreams come true and to behold the key to our collective future,” says Tosin Adebisi, Senior International Relations Manager for Africa and Middle East for the University of Sussex.
Founder and CEO of Techpoint Africa, Adewale Yusuf said;
“We are Techpoint are happy at the turnout of this challenge and grateful for the partnership with the University of Sussex to enable Nigerian innovators.”
About Techpoint Africa
Techpoint Africa is a leading media and publishing platform dedicated to democratising information on startups, entrepreneurship, innovation, and technology in Africa.
For the last 5 years, Techpoint Africa has achieved these aims through journalistic pieces, insightful reports, videos, tours, conferences and workshops across Africa.
Techpoint’s flagship conference — Techpoint Inspired — is the largest technology conference in West Africa. Having gone through 3 iterations, the conference has hosted over 8000 technology experts, enthusiasts, policy makers, inventors and industry stakeholders in the course of the last 3 years
About University of Sussex
The University of Sussex is a public research university in Falmer, Sussex, England.
The University has a long and rich record of excellence in computing teaching and research especially in the areas of telecommunications and artificial intelligence; the first public demonstration of an intercontinental computer link using satellite communications was made at The University of Sussex, in 1973.
This heritage continues today — with teaching and research in areas including artificial intelligence, bio-inspired computing, cognitive science, digital media technologies, foundational issues in computer systems, and human-computer interaction.
Engineering at The University of Sussex is home to a range of world-leading and pioneering interdisciplinary research as well as and state-of-the-art facilities to advance disruptive innovation in technology and equip graduates with skills for the future workplace.
Featured Image: FCMB
