MarkHack 2.0: 5 finalists to receive $50,000 seed capital after 3-month incubation

Winners have emerged at the recently concluded second edition of Nigeria’s first and biggest marketing and media hackathon, MarkHack 2.0. The 2 winners along with 3 other finalists will undergo a 3-month incubation program at the Eko Innovation Center and receive a seed capital of $50,000 USD at the end of the program.

Victor Afolabi, the curator of MarkHack and Founder of Eko Innovation Center and Art of Technology Lagos, disclosed this at the grand finale of the event in Lagos, Nigeria. The three months of innovative pitch sessions, workshops, masterclasses and mentorship sessions is aimed at helping participants develop skills and provide them with the resources needed to transform their ideas into market-ready products.

Other perks include mentorship and free working space at the Eko Innovation Center. There are also other consolation prizes for the other finalists. 

Themed ‘Unlocking the Power of the Creative Economy’, with focus areas on Immersive Experience (XR), Content Creation and Robo Marketing, MarkHack 2.0 is the second edition of Nigeria’s first and biggest marketing and media hackathon, MarkHack, curated by GDM Group and Eko Innovation Center.

It climaxed on a disruptive note with 10 startups engaging in an innovative pitch contest of ideas before industry experts.

Read also: Eko Innovation Centre launches ‘EkoClimathon’ hackathon to support climate-focused innovators

Aremu emerges winner of MackHack

Aremu, a robot-marketing tool that helps businesses run experiments to improve their product metric and conversion rate, beat nine (9) other startups to clinch the grand prize of $5,000 at the grand finale of the event in Lagos, Nigeria.

Tosin Adelowo, co-founder of Aremu said that the win serves as a validation of the enormous potential in Nigeria’s creative sector. He commended Eko Innovation Center for the MarkHack platform.

“Indeed, this win is a validation that team Aremu can bring this great idea and vision to life with the potential of becoming a global brand in a few years”

Tosin Adelowo, co-founder of Aremu

He further expressed appreciation to the organizers of MarkHack for creating the platform that provides an opportunity for new ideas to be birthed in the creative space. 

Ozi, a web application that helps businesses acquire, engage and manage customer conversions all from one place emerged as the first runner-up, carting away the sum of $3000 while Zander, a web-enabled and user-customized response AI tool for automating social media marketing/management and all brand campaign processes emerged as the second runner-up with a prize of $2000.

Azeez Adejumo, co-founder and Chief Executive Officer of Ozi.ng, the second prize winner lauded the Eko Innovation Centre for promoting a culture of excellence in the discovery of new talents and ideas that will shape the future.

“Getting into incubator programs has not been easy for us as entrepreneurs in Nigeria; however, MarkHack has set a pace by opening the doors of opportunity for entrepreneurs to pitch their ideas on a level playing field and get mentorship on how to scale their businesses”, Adejumo said.

Read also: Eko Innovation Centre launches Nigeria’s first marketing and media hackathon with $20,000 star prize

MarkHack 2.0   

The event, which took place on Friday, July 7, was a unique evening of exploration, teamwork, and unbridled enthusiasm. The second edition of the event recorded more than 1,365 applications from 92 locations in Europe, Asia, and Africa, all of which were evaluated by 22 industry experts.

The top 10 startups that spiced up the finale with their innovative pitch sessions were Aremu; Ozi; Zander; Weeshr; Markett AI; VirtualX; Contenting; Shopalz; ShopXR and GetSeen.

The event gathered innovators, techies, entrepreneurs, policymakers, media mavens, marketing professionals and corporate moguls who collaborated to create innovative solutions to real-time marketing and media challenges. It was characterized by igniting imaginations, unleashing tech’s potential, crafting creative marvels, illuminating the media sphere and revolutionizing innovation.

GDM Group, the curator of MarkHack is a leading marketing and media technology company renowned for bespoke service offerings ranging from marketing tech solutions, big data management and 360 integrated marketing services.

With MarkHack 2.0, GDM Group and Eko Innovation Center have yet again reaffirmed their purpose of supporting enterprises by leveraging innovation and technology at the heart of businesses.