All Winners graved with UGX 10M, 7M, and 5M respectively for the Winner, 1st runner up and 2nd runner up respectively. Additionally, all winning solutions are expected to go through more stages where successful entrants will grab a slice of the UGX 1Bn startup fund in the MTN Innovation challenge series.

At the handover ceremony, MTN Uganda’s acting CEO Gordian Kyomukama was ecstatic of the role by his Yello team towards the development of financial innovations in Uganda. As a matter of fact, the concluded OPEN API challenge is one of those innovation challenges aimed at supporting new solutions financially as the telecom has always pulled off annual challenges.

The Application categories

The MTN OPEN API Challenge was run on a sum of 3 application categories, Transport, Horeca and Distribution in FMCG. Over 203 individuals and teams registered for the challenge, but only 22 teams made it to the final sections with 3 winners awarded in each category.

Transport: Apps digitized through MTN Mobile money with payments for delivery or use of local services in the transport sector.

HORECA: Features apps digitized through MTN Mobile Money payments for service delivery/consumption in Hotels, Restaurants, Bars, and Cafes.

Distribution in FMCG: A category with apps digitized through MTN Momo with payments made within a selected FMCG (Fast moving consumer good) value chain.

As each category featured 3 winners with 1 overall and 2 runner-ups. The Prize packages included a pre-seed cash prize, entry to compete for seed funding from the MTN Startup Fund, Plus an entry to the Yello accelerator programme to further build their startups.

The OPEN API Winning solutions

Among the winning solutions, the transport category was topped by Easy Matatu, a ride hailing app focused on making ordinary Taxis accessible through an app, Endobo would further bring cashless payments to the same league of drivers, and lastly Yo waste takes the trash stress off Urban residents by making garbage collectors accessible through a mobile app.

In the Horeca category, App About allows every city dweller to receive notification of events in nearby areas and reserve early slots, as EPay cruises in with a digital payments portal which would make utility payments easy and instant through an app.
Additionally, Sowani would make hotel/restaurant/cafe bookings and reservations easy through mobile money with a user making choices before checking in.

Lastly in the Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) lane, Minute 5 is an online grocery portal where a user would shop perishables and have them delivered to their doorsteps, as Powell pay would allow users to pay for goods by simply scanning a QR code or enter merchant code to clear the bill without using Momo pay or Airtel Pay in any way.

Interestingly hardware materials would be much accessible to contractors through the Engineering connections portal by simply booking and clearing all materials through a mobile app and delivered to the construction site.

Next steps for the winning solutions

The MTN OPEN API Challenge was executed online with a numerous pound of physical engagements in form of trainings and mentorship sessions were conducted in partnership with Innovation Village. Not only did all 22 teams receive enough training for the next steps of execution, but also a big boost to refine their applications for a real-world touch.

However, the 9 overall winning solutions now face an even harder task of bringing their ideas to life as startups in the Ugandan ecosystem. As a matter of fact, most solutions are already operating in the country and you can choose to try their texture in a real-world scent by downloading any of the winning apps from the play store.

Furthermore, MTN has unveiled a new app collection store where all local startups will be able to upload their solutions for a public eye through the new Yello Market Place accessible via mtn.co.ug/marketplace. So, the story has not ended yet for the winning solutions but instead a headstart boost to the Ugandan ecosystem.

Among the winners of MTN Open API Challenge, East Matatu is one in the transport sector that may give a headache to existing solutions like Uber, Bolt, and Little. The app aims at making ordinary taxis accessible by customers without necessarily requesting heading to a Taxi Park.

Customers are able to request taxis/matatu and choose a pickup location similar to a bus stop. For instance, the service operates along Entebbe road and various stopovers were created as hailing customer pick up points. A driver stops and starts the trip which a customer pays with either cash or credit on a trip.

New and existing solutions like App About, YoWaste, Endobo are some of those that won the OPen API Challenge and will be receiving their first phase of funding from MTN soon. Additionally, all these solutions will further qualify for other steps which include an accelerator programme by MTN to groom them into real-world services. Nonetheless, here is the list of Winning startups of the MTN Open API Challenge.

The MTN OPEN API Challenge Winning startups

Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG)

2nd: Engineering connections
1st: Poweli Pay
Winner: Minute 5

HORECA

2nd: Sowani
1st: E-pay
Winner: App about

Transport
2nd: Yo Waste
1st: Endobo
Winner: Easy Matatu

The basis of Winning Solutions

MTN Mobile Money (MOMO) is best known as the most used mobile finance service in Uganda. Despite the fact that Mobile Money tax was introduced to spice up the country GDP ratio that later bowed to the 0.5% pressure. New solutions pitched in the OPen API Challenge will rely on the service to bring the era of cash to an end.

The MTN Momo API was unveiled last year and it’s free to use by all developers who rely on the API instances to create amazing products for the end user. So apart from the winning startups of the challenge, many more behind the scene solutions are be relying on the API to make mobile money the cashless drive of the economy.

All in all, Judges selected the best cashless solutions relying on the API to impact the way consumers rely on technology together with a spike of transport in operations. Furthermore, all winning startups will be awarded next week by MTN and we shall not miss the festivities to witness the overall cash prizes and mentorship opportunities that have not been disclosed yet.

The MTN Momo API was unveiled last year at the Ntinda based Innovation village, and a series of pitch sessions have been conducted for the past 3months to find the most efficient and relevant startup ideas to take home an overall cash prize. Today, we got a chance to take the back seat and listen to startup ideas bringing the cashless drive to life.

From Transportation to environment with a dissection of finance ideas, the MTN Open API challenge is one that will have the best startups cruise to the momo talk of fame with funding to bring them to life. Nonetheless, here are some of the startup ideas currently leading the transport wing of the Open Challenge with a successful touch in a real-life notion

Easy Matatu

As the name sounds, Easy Matatu is an idea that encompasses ride sharing to its name. East Matatu is an app that would allow Taxi(Matatu) customers to hook up a ride from a specific pickup point similar to a bus stop. Apparently, the app is already taking trips on Entebbe road and its no way different from Uber or Bolt, but simply bringing he dream of ride sharing with ordinary Taxis to life.

Endobo

In the local Ugandan tone, Endobo means fast. Well, this startup idea was pitched by a group that believes bargaining should come to an end. The same way SafeBoda credit minimizes payment instances between a rider and a driver is the same way Endobo plans to bring electronic cards as a payment solution for ordinary Taxis. For instance, a customer only swaps his/her card with the driver/conductor to pay for the trip cost.

Yo Waste

Urban areas face the problem of poor waste management, and this is where YoWaste comes in with a perfect pitch to solve any garbage related cases in these areas. The app is a concept by Makerere University students led by the UG TECH MAG founder, Martin Tumusiime and his team that seeks to make garbage collectors accessible through a single tap of a button.

If you want your garbage to be collected, simply download the app then request for a garbage collector who responds to the request and picks up the trash. Furthermore, the collector receives a rating from the client about the service delivered and file any complaints. Basically, YoWaste is an environmental idea that could bring an end to pollution with the required funding if procured through MTN’s OPEN API challenge series.

Mobile booking

Booking a bus is always a hard task travelers face when traversing the hard to reach spots of the country. From East to West, buses carry passengers from one place to another, and the mobile booking service idea seeks to make ticket purchases easier than before.

The service uses *166*8# on MTN to make bookings available for users via a simple USSD menu even on a low-grade feature phone like the Kai OS powered MTN Smart. As a matter of fact, this is not a mobile app but its a USSD based system that could save many from falling victim of fraud tickets in the ordinary purchase zones.

Before Judges conclude the MTN Open API Challenge, we hope to see a startup idea come to life with funding secured from the giant telco. More so, all pitched ideas are great but we think our selection features some of those we would be glad to see become real-world problem solving services in Uganda.