MarkHack 4.0, Africa’s premier marketech, marketing communications, and technology hackathon, organized by the Eko Innovation Centre (EIC) in partnership with the GDM Group and Brand Communicator, culminated in a night of immense celebration this year.
It was a double-barrelled recognition programme with the newly introduced Nigeria MarTech Awards, as Industry leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators gathered for a highly competitive and exciting ceremony, honouring winners and outstanding contributions to Nigeria’s marketing and technology landscape.
Seven top teams delivered impressive pitch presentations, including Team Storipod, Team Next Vibe, Team Jarvis, Team Allies, Team 360Kart, Team First Response AI, and Team JUMPQ.
At the end of the pitch, the jury led by Mrs Iquo Ukoh, CEO of Entod Marketing, deliberated and came up with the final top 3.
Team Jarvis was 2nd runner up and went home with one million naira while Team Next Vibe got the 1st runner up position with 1.5million naira prize.
Team Blue Sands Stem Lab won the overall prize for the first position with a 2-million-naira cash prize. Other teams were also given laptops as consolation prizes for their efforts and hard work.
Speaking at the event, the Convener of MarkHack, Victor Gbenga Afolabi said “It’s a feeling of satisfaction that I see the MarkHack platform continue to evolve, continue to expand, continue to define what it intends to do and continue to drive that innovation as expected as we continue to give back.
“So excited about what we’re doing, satisfied by the turnout of the people, the speakers, the sponsors, we’ve had the highest amount of brand sponsors this year, we’ve had the highest amount of support this year, we used to do it individually, 150 startups this year.” He added.
This year’s event celebrated outstanding innovators, creators, and trailblazers transforming Nigeria’s marketing landscape through technology.
According to the organisers, the Nigerian MarTech Awards was created to provide a vital platform for showcasing exceptional contributions in this dynamic field.
Outstanding companies that were awarded include MTN clinching the Best Use of Data In Marketing Campaign; Indrive won Best Social Media Campaign; Opay was awarded Best Use of AI in Marketing Fintech while Pisi Mobile won Top Emerging Technology in Marketing.
Others are Indomie with Best Use of AI in Marketing FMCG; Friesland Campina won Best Future-Focused Marketing Team; Moonshot by Tech Cabal emerged as Most Innovative Virtual Event; and Entertainment Week Lagos also won Outstanding Xtended Reality Experience.
For the individual awards, Adeife Adeoye won the Marketing Creator/Influencer of the Year award while Iyo Prosper won the Most Innovative Content Strategy award.
Earlier in the day, there was a conference that featured an inaugural conference with a focus on fueling the consumer Martech journey.
In his speech, Co-organiser and CEO of Awesome Communications, Joshua Ajayi spoke about the cohesion and impart of the partnership powering MarkHack.
“Tonight, we mark the culmination of months of hard work, deep thinking, and passionate execution, as our finalists prepare to make their last and most defining pitches before a distinguished panel of jurors.
“We are here to witness the final round of the hackathon. Over the last few weeks, a remarkable group of young innovators have tackled some of the most urgent and complex marketing challenges of our time. They have designed solutions that integrate blockchain, AI, data, XR, and emerging technologies with marketing intent.
“It is also a night of recognition and celebration, as we host for the very first time the MarkHack Awards, honouring visionary applications of marketing technology across sectors and disciplines.”
In a goodwill message, the Commissioner for Innovation, Science, and Technology, Lagos State, Olatubosun Alake, praised the ingenuity and determination of young people in the country, highlighting their role in earning global recognition despite challenging conditions.
“When you look at our environment and you look at just the sheer determination, the ingenuity of young people, that has given us the global recognition, young people doing amazing things in an environment that is tough but also can be very, very ingenious, in an environment that there’s competition, but in an environment that lets you be innovative. And that is Lagos,” Alake said.
