On 29 October 2019, the Global Fintech Hackcelerator announced the winners of its 2019 competition in South Africa. The competition, launched by the South African Reserve Bank (SARB) and powered by fintech/bank matchmaking platform KPMG Matchi, aimed to find innovative solutions to complex financial challenges in the Southern African region.
The competition received 95 entries from fintech firms across the globe. A panel of judges, comprising industry experts from SARB, FSCA, KPMG Singapore, and local financial institutions, selected the top 12 innovative and sustainable fintech solutions. The two winners, ukheshe and Mindbridge, were announced at the Fintech Demo Day.
Ukheshe, a South African fintech firm, empowers informal merchants and traders to accept digital payments without needing a bank account. Mindbridge's AI Auditor platform automates data ingestion and analysis, identifying fraud through machine learning and natural language processing.
The two winners will receive a stipend towards travel expenses to attend the 2019 Singapore Fintech Festival, pitch at the Hackcelerator Demo Day, and receive funding to develop a contextualised proof of concept. They will also work with high-value corporates to contextualise a solution to their needs and gain market entry into the Singapore and Asia-Pacific region.
