Following an interview session held at Strathmore University last week, 13 start-ups have been shortlisted to proceed to the incubation phase of the Safaricom Appwiz Challenge.
They have now proceeded to the 3-month incubation phase which commenced on 7th September 2015, during which team members will be trained and mentored in business development and entrepreneurship by a diverse group of industry experts and coaches. The participants were shortlisted based on their ability to articulate issues to do with business opportunities, challenges and ways of addressing market needs through their solutions.
According to Safaricom’s Director of Strategy and Innovation, Joe Ogutu, this year’s candidates showcased unique and innovative solutions leveraging on Machine to Machine technology, mobile data, SMS and USSD for customer engagement.
The 2015 edition of the 3-month developer challenge was launched on 20th July, giving applicants a month to submit their ideas to any one of four categories including: Customer Engagement Solutions, Safaricom Product Excellence Solutions, Mobile Convenience and Out of the Box Solutions.
The Safaricom Appwiz Challenge Grand Winner will receive a cash grant of Ksh1.5 million, while the 1st Runner-up and 2nd Runner up will receive Ksh. 1 million and Ksh. 500,000 respectively.