The winners of the three-day Mega Faculty Hackathon were unveiled on Friday, the last day of the event held by the University of Nairobi in collaboration with Startinev and other partners.
The three-day event, which was the first ever faculty-wide hackathon held between 3rd and 5th April, 2024, saw (5) Simbi AI, (4) BM Tech (3), Lectro Weight (2) Climate Guard, and (1)Songa emerge tops.
These will proceed to the Nairobi Innovation Week 2024 slated for 8th -10th, May 2024 where they are expected to showcase their innovations alongside other teams.
The Hackathon, which was graced by the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Stephen Kiama, kicked off with a sharing of inspiring experiences from start-up pioneers dubbed ‘From Campus to Company’. This was the first ever Faculty-wide hackathon which saw a record 179 teams register for the event.
In his opening remarks, Prof. Kiama situated Innovation, Commercialization and Entrepreneurship at the heart of the Hackathons. He explained that hackathons aimed at value addition targeting 99% of students who did not aim for formal employment to help them succeed in life.
He also observed that majority of the Kenya’s revenues obtained from service provision and sale of raw materials was spent on imported goods and services. This does not augur well for the growth of the economy hence the significance of initiatives like the Hackathons.
Prof. Kiama applauded the Office of the Deputy Vice Chancellor Research Innovation and Enterprise (DVRIE), which, in collaboration with Intellectual Property and Management Office (IPMO). The two offices were at the forefront of providing a new pedagogical approach to offering students value. This would enable them to create wealth and opportunities for others.
Prof. Mary Kinoti, Director, IPMO, lauded the competitive spirit shown as everyone was eager to win. She noted that for the last eight years the UoN has organized Nairobi Innovation Week with the intention to assist staff and students to use the knowledge acquired by solving challenges and disseminating knowledge to the entire nation.
She further said that considering the Hackathons as an ecosystem meant they would enable the students the leverage the acquired skills to establish start-ups while still in campus.
The Hackathon Panel discussion featured Innocent Magothe, CEO- Startinev; Benaiah Wepundi, CEO – Payd; Dean Gichukie, CEO-Quikk-API; and Prof Mary Kinoti, Director IPMO. It was moderated by Charity Mbithe, a PR Consultant.
Prof. Mary Kinoti encouraged the young people to develop tenacity, endurance and perseverance to innovate and provide solutions. She emphasized the value of hard work—which “doesn’t even kill”—and added that there are diverse pathways to earn a livelihood as long as one was willing to acquire skills from every opportunity.
Startinev CEO, Innocent Magothe, on Forums for Business Ideas remarked that 90% of Startinev business partnerships occurred from cafes. He encouraged students to go out and network and never underestimate the people present in any room. He also emphasized the need to not lead with oneself.
Ms. Charity Mbithe echoed the sentiments, reminiscing a lesson from Dale Carnegie: she learned to approach anyone sitting alone in a café and strike a conversation if they were receptive. “Learn as much about the other person as possible,’” said. This tactic has won her the largest contract to date.
Dean Gichukie, CEO-Quikk API said that the better one is at responding to customer feedback and integrating it into system, the better they are at analyzing it. This provides a way to gauge how to fix and improve the system and is an indicator of how fast you can scale up your business and processes.
Benaiah Wepundi, CEO, Payd spoke on financial discipline as an innovator and start-up pioneer. ‘Have a clear distinction between personal vs business vs client money. Utilize the resources available to you such as fellow students, networking events and ecosystem enablers like the Hackathons and Nairobi Innovation Week,’ he said.
Ensure you register to attend the event