By: Thaimu Bai Sesay
As a form of motivation, the Christex Foundation at Fourah Bay College has during a pitch night event organized at its studio on Saturday 19th October 2024, awarded the huge sum of 15,000 United States Dollars to young visionary experts whose tech ideas stood out as the best.
The event referred to as the ‘Da Vinci’ Bootcamp and Hackathon pitch night was organized and funded by the Christex Foundation at FBC, after providing tech mentorship and safe space for weeks under absolutely free condition. The pitch night event was a platform for the different teams participated in the hackathon to present and defined their tech products ideas after submitting them for about 2 weeks.
In his introduction statement at the pitch night event prior to the commencement of the presentations, the host of the special event, Paul Charming briefed that the Christex Foundation is a tech institution with the right skills for digital transformation. Specialized in Blockchain, he said they have 17 shelves ranging from products, operations, designs, etc. Paul Charming recalled the first hackathon where the winners went home with 7,000 dollars and assured that the 15,000 dollars will go home with the winners at the end of the pitch night.
In his remarks, the young CEO and founder of Christex Foundation, Colin Ogoo used the opportunity to encourage participants of the hackathon to take their tech journey seriously. He urged them to use the present difficult situation in Sierra Leone and Africa as a motivation to keep working harder with the free space provided to them and better their lives. CEO Colin assured of providing full supports to those who are really serious and are looking forward to make their tech ideas a reality.
The Senior Engineer and Christex founder, Ogoo assured that they fully funded the hackathon and would do due diligence to award the right winners without any form of cheating. He revealed that out of 48 teams they would have top 11 who will be going home with the 15,000 USD, plus other special awards for different categories. As the 1st position will be bagging solid 3,000 USD as prize, he emphasized that it is very uneasy for one to have a job that would pay him 3,000 dollars in two weeks.
During the pitch night event, teams that met the requirements were called upon to present and defend their pitch ideas for their tech products. Amongst the prominent teams were: Medify, School Tech, Way Pay, Trackam, GenelineX / Fortizo Technologies and many others. Most of the pitch ideas were to develop tech products in form of software applications to solve problems in the Sierra Leone society. Problems like online banking and payment systems, digitalize the medical system for safety and easy accessibility and also resolve some gaps in the educational landscape.
The pitch night event was conducted in a peaceful and cheerful atmosphere with the involvement of transparent technology for assessments. As there must be a winner in every competition, GenelineX / Fortizo headed by Alex David Pratt emerged as the winner of the event, occupying the top spot allocated with the 3,000 dollars. The forth and unto fifth spots were also awarded with the least going home with 1,000 dollars. Pratt also won a special award for the best voice over.
In an exclusive interview with Alex David Pratt, head of GenelineX / Fortizo Technologies, the team that stood out and occupied the first position, he intimated that their pitch idea is to develop a software application that set to digitally advance and improve the health care system through drugs safety. He explained that they intend to build an AI application that would scan drugs and verify the drugs authenticity so as to reduce the risks of fake drugs and ensure that the people are safe.
At the end of the ‘Da Vinci’ Bootcamp and Hackathon pitch night, CEO Colin Ogoo revealed that the hackathon was not just about the prizes but ensuring that the best tech ideas become reality, as he assured of providing all the necessary supports and environment. He disclosed that every Six week they will have a hackathon, further assuring that they want to target a hackathon that will go for $50,000 and $25,000 for the first and second positions respectively. He encountered not only those that did absolutely well but all of those that participated to keep working on their ideas and improve on them.
The Christex Foundation is a non-profit organization situated at the hills of Fourah Bay College, Freetown, Sierra Leone. It is a digital tech institution uniquely positioned to unlock the vast potential of Blockchain and Solana Ecosystem for their community. As the first in Sierra Leone, the foundation has the unique motor “Educate, Empower and Earn”. It does not only provide free digital technology skills but also empower its participants and at the same time offer them financial assistance all in dollars through their unique system.