Wema Bank has awarded ₦300 million to 11 Nigerian startups at the grand finale of its Hackaholics 7.0 innovation programme, held in Lagos last week.
Niteon, founded by Tony Niteon Nwose, emerged the overall winner, receiving ₦60 million for its agritech platform, which connects African farmers to processors, financial services and international markets.
Acceede, an education technology solution by Emmanuel Adeboje, and Craft Planet, a platform that converts plastic waste into building materials, each received ₦40 million.
SocialSign, which promotes sign language and digital accessibility, and Neural Forge, an AI-powered medical diagnostics solution, won ₦30 million each.
Six other startups received awards ranging from ₦10 million to ₦20 million. They include All-Arbitrates, Harthio, Nexa AI, MamaAlert, Vhorde and URI, offering solutions in arbitration, mental wellness, business intelligence, women’s healthcare, assistive technology and AI marketing.
Themed “Festival of the Future,” this year’s edition attracted 5,329 participants who submitted 1,632 ideas through seven pitch centres. Of these, 59 startups were selected, with 21 advancing to the final stage.
Launched in 2019, Hackaholics has grown into a platform for identifying and supporting emerging technology entrepreneurs. Wema Bank said the programme has attracted more than 21,000 applicants, engaged over 50,000 participants across three countries and supported more than 10,000 startups, leading to the development of over 100 solutions.
The bank said the initiative reflects its commitment to supporting innovation and helping Nigerian entrepreneurs develop technology-driven solutions to real-world challenges.