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Polygon announces first African bootcamp, hackathon
Global crypto bank Xend Finance together with Polygon, a Web3 infrastructure used by some of the world’s biggest companies, just announced Polygon Fellowship, an eight-week intensive certified mentorship programme and hackathon in Africa.
Among the companies already using Polygon are Meta, Stripe, and Reddit. The Polygon bootcamp and hackathon will be the company’s first in Africa and introduces developers in the region to its ecosystem using Xend Finance and Polygon technologies.
Those chosen for the mentor-led programme will learn how to build decentralised apps on the Polygon blockchain and receive the official Polygon Africa Bootcamp Certification upon completion. Mentors and judges include Shodipo Ayomide, global head of developer advocacy of Polygon, Ugochukwu Aronu, chief executive of Xend Finance, Victor Osaretin Asemota, and Yele Bademosi, chief executive of Nestcoin, amongst others.
“Africa has the greatest potential to harness the power of Web3 and bring a borderless economy and stability to its people,” said Sandeep Nailwal, chief operations officer and co-founder of Polygon. “We are excited to hold our first hackathon and fellowship in Africa, which we hope to do for years to come.”
Polygon and Xend Finance are expecting more than 2 000 developers, working with numerous developer organisations in Africa, including GDG Nairobi, amongst others. The Polygon Bootcamp is open to all applicants, with the application period starting today, 26 September, with the deadline on 7 October.
Those selected will start the program on 10 October and end on 2 December. Over $60 000 in prizes will be given out following the Hackathon, with two divisions – a beginner’s and master’s – with first place receiving $10 000, followed by $7 000, $5 000, and $750 for the top 30 projects.
The winning projects will also be given consideration for seed funding from Polygon and exposure on Xend Launchpad, a decentralised platform giving projects exposure to international investors.
“As a Web3 infrastructure for developers, which includes a crypto payment API and wallet infrastructure, we are very excited to help a generation of developers reach a global audience,” said Ugochukwu Aronu, chief executive of Xend Finance.
“Working with Polygon allows our existing developer base, along with new developers, to tap into the power of the Polygon blockchain and ecosystem using our technology. We are Africa and we are proud to support our community.”
Xend Finance is a global crypto bank offering with an open Web3 infrastructure for developers. Members can earn multiple levels of interest on their savings by seamlessly exchanging their crypto or fiat currency to stable cryptocurrencies and staking on the Xend Finance platform. The company’s cross-chain high-yield aggregator is the first product in the industry that automatically scans and ensures the highest yields across multiple chains.
Xend’s international team is made up of professionals with backgrounds in mathematics, finance, cryptography, and blockchain development, working for KPMG, Chevron, Huobi, and Stanbic Bank. Xend Finance is backed by Binance, Google Launchpad, NGC Ventures, Hashkey, and AU21 Capital, amongst others.
Meanwhile, Polygon’s scaling solutions have seen widespread adoption with more than 19 000 decentralised applications hosted, 1.6 billion total transactions processed, 142 million unique user addresses, and $5 billion in assets secured. Polygon is carbon neutral with the goal of leading the Web3 ecosystem in becoming carbon negative.
