Empowering Innovation: FirstBank Invests in Nigerian Startups with N29.5 Million Funding Awards
FirstBank, the premier West African financial institution and financial inclusion service provider just concluded its 6th annual edition Fintech Summit, themed “Banking on Partnerships,” The event was held on the 13th and 14th of November 2024 at the Lagos Continental hotel, Lagos.
The event attracted a lot of industry leaders, stake holders, investors, innovators, and experts of the banking and fintech world.
Several workshops and marketing trends were showcased and discussed at the event.
A total number of 147 startups (innovators) applied for the madien edition of First Bank Fintech innovators Pitch Program. This program will grant winners with partnership, mentoring and investment in their products. However, out of this number only 10 innovators made it to the final round of the selection process.
These innovators showcased their love for Fintech and easy banking with their solutions ranging from AI powered business automation systems, digital thrift to name a few.
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The keynote speech was given by Mr. Emmanuel Daniel the Founder of TAB Global & Asian Banker. He emphasized on “Banking on the Future: How Strategic Partnerships Can Foster Innovation and Growth.” He shared insights on Banking on the Future-How Strategic Partnerships Can Foster Innovation and Growth and explored the critical metrics banks should prioritise, such as cost-to-income ratio, net interest margins, and net fee income, as indicators of operational efficiency and economic impact.
Mr. Alebiosu Olusegun, the CEO of First Bank spoke about First Banks commitment to tech driven solutions and partnership during his presentation titled “Digital banking and the Future”. He further said that said some of the outcomes of the event would be to bring together some startups and connect them to investors and indeed partners, with some of them helping them grow their businesses.
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, represented by the Commissioner, of Innovation Science and Technology, Lagos State Government, Olatubosun Alake said: “I must commend the team at First Bank of Nigeria for putting together such a thoughtful and impactful event. This year’s theme, Banking on Partnerships, could not be more timely, especially when our industries, economy, and society are in desperate need of more value-creating collaborations, innovations, and shared solutions.
The event featured a robust panel sessions that explored topics like Scaling for Success: Building Strong Alliances between Bank and FinTechs, Leveraging Complementary Strengths: Creating Structure for Fintech Synergy and from Seed to Scale: Investor Insights on Growing Fintech Startups.
The first day of the summit (the 13th), featured a pitching session where the finalists presented their already-developed solutions to the distinguished panel.
After careful deliberation and assessment, the winners were selected and awarded on the last day of the summit (the 14th). NearSwipe Limited claimed the top prize, while Middleman, a startup enabling seamless payments for African e-commerce businesses to suppliers in China, and Esusu Africa Limited, a digital thrift and credit banking platform, won N7.5 million and N5 million, respectively.
The remaining seven finalists were not left empty handed as they each received N1 million to enhance their solutions.
This innovative approach by First Bank has shown their zeal and willingness to groom the youths towards building a better and robust financial structure for the economy.
The highlights of the day were the panel sessions where meaningful and insightful topics regarding banking and Fintech solutions were discussed. Opportunities to network and mingle with new innovators as well as old innovators in the economic space.
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