Nedbank, LaunchLab award R80 000 to Fintech and Big Data Challenge winners

The Nedbank Stellenbosch University LaunchLab has awarded R80 000 to the top five contestants in the Fintech and Big Data Challenge.

Held on 20 October at the LaunchLab in Stellenbosch, nine contestants pitched to a panel of five judges, consisting of innovations and business teams from Nedbank.

“This Fintech and Big Data Challenge gave entrepreneurs the opportunity to not only win incubation support for their Fintech solutions but to also gain access to the exciting market that Nedbank can provide,” says the CEO of the LaunchLab, Philip Marais, in a press release to Ventureburn.

“The LaunchLab facilitates the relationship between the startups and our corporate partners to ensure a win-win scenario for both parties.”

Read more: LaunchLab, Nedbank on hunt for next big thing in fintech, big data

Apart from the financial incentive, the winners also received six months worth of incubation support from the LaunchLab

The five winners were:

1. MoWallet, awarded R30 000 – banks can deliver incentives to those with lower income
2. Airbuy, awarded R20 000 – system to purchase items with airtime
3. Inku, awarded R10 000 – a digital lending platform operating on a peer-to-peer basis
4. StokVella, awarded R10 000 – a tool for savings and investment
5. Fingertips, awarded R10 000 – online payments solution that utilises student cards

Nedbank will monitor these startups over the next few months to see if they are viable enough to add value to the bank’s offerings.

“We are encouraged by the depth of exciting ideas and entrepreneurs we engage with through the LaunchLab. Most importantly, the fast-growing traction of Fintechs and usage of Big Data intelligence gives us a great sense of comfort that South Africa is firmly poised not just to participate in the global innovation arena – but to lead it,” adds Chris Wood, executive head of emerging payments, strategy, and regulatory at Nedbank.