The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), in partnership with Liquid Telecom, has recently announced 12 African startups that will compete in the regional finals of the Inclusive Innovation Challenge. Today, we have three finalists for the regional finals that will take place in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia on September 20th 2019.
The first of the three finalists is Bloom Impact from Ghana, a digital marketplace that provides financial education and access to financial services to small business owners in Africa, while the second is Social Lender based in Nigeria, which bridges the gap of immediate fund access for people with limited access to formal credit by harnessing a proprietary algorithm using social reputation on mobile, online, and social media platforms. The third competitor is Inclusivity Solutions based in South Africa that develops digital insurance solutions for emerging markets with the aim of protecting and enhancing the quality of life of vulnerable people.
Winner selection criteria will be based on these categories: Financial Inclusion, Income Growth & Job Creation, Skills Development & Opportunity Matching and Technology Access.
From across Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, US & Canada, twenty regional winners will be chosen to proceed to MIT where four Global Grand Prize Winners will each win $250,000 in the Innovation Challenge, in addition to worldwide recognition and exposure.
Article Tags:
MIT, Liquid Telecom, Inclusive Innovation Challenge, MIT IIC, Social Lender, Bloom Impact, Inclusivity Solutions, MIT IIC 2019
