Health-tech startup wins Wema Bank’s Hackaholics 4.0

IRETI, a health-tech startup that helps women bridge the gap and manages breast cancer, has emerged winner of Wema Bank’s Hackaholics 4.0.

The winner was announced at the weekend during Wema Bank/ALAT Hackaholics Digital Summit and Grand Finale tagged ‘Re-imagine: Disrupting the Ecosystem for Scale’, which was held in Lagos.

IRETI won the N15 million cash prize for the best-pitched business, while GRIP – a fintech startup – won N10 million as the first runner-up and Trakka won N7 million as the second runner-up. Outsidee won N5 million for the Women Led Award – a prize instituted to support women in tech.

Other winners are Naijabox as the best energy startup; PUP Industries won the award for the best climate subset; MumAlive won in the health startup category; Chao won the e-commerce category, and University-X won the edutech category.

The 10 finalists for the Hackaholics 4.0 are IRETI, GRIP, Trakka, Outsidee, Chao, Raptor, Pup Industries, University-X, Naijabox, and MumAlive.

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Also, three universities won the Wema Bank Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics endowment fund. They are Babcock University, N10 million; Afe Babalola University, N7 million; and Nile University, N5 million.

The MD/CEO, Wema Bank, Moruf Oseni, said the bank had blended traditional banking expertise and technology to be able to support the growth of the tech ecosystem in Nigeria.

“We also recognise that any economy that is serious about sustainable economic and social development must pay serious attention to science, technology, engineering and mathematics education.

“Entertainment and sports have put Nigeria on the global landscape in a positive light; but they cannot help to predict technology and infrastructure deficits that will see Nigeria achieve its true potential,” Oseni said.