The first “FINSPIRE FinTech Online Hackathon” co-organized by Convoy and Cyberport concluded on 29 March 2020 with great success. Utilizing Microsoft Teams as official software, the organizers were able to transform the competition into an online event where participants could “Hack from home” to “eliminate pain points through innovation”. More than 160 university students from various institutes worldwide, 31 teams in total, participated in the competition, this is the Hong Kong largest online hackathon exclusive for university students. On top of HK$100,000 in cash and prizes, winners will be awarded with a 12-week Convoy mentorship program, including entrepreneurship training by MIT HK Innovation Node.
Nurturing Young Local Fintech Talents and Encouraging Innovative Thinking
In FINSPIRE Fintech Hackathon, participating teams are required to come up with prototypes to fintech problems and create presentations within 48 hours around one of the three themes, namely “Fintech for Business”, “Fintech for Good” and “Fintech for You”. Champion of the competition, “Whealth”, made up of participants from Chinese University of Hong Kong, went for the theme “Fintech for Good”. Their prototype digitalizes the data from health reports by using AI, to provide the customized promote, health status and recommendations of insurance products, which is widely applicable to various aspects in fintech and daily life. Their unique and innovative ideas were highly regarded by the judges and secured impressive scores. The first and second runner-up presented prototypes called ”DASH” and ”EbAR” respectively. The former provides financial planning matching services for SME and Startup to run their business by using AI technique, and the latter improves user experience by applying AR technique. Both address pain points of the industry and are outstanding in terms of innovation, feasibility and user experience.
Group Chief People and Culture Officer of Convoy Global Holdings Limited, Ms. Almond Wong, says “All participating teams at the first FINSPIRE Fintech Online Hackathon did an excellent job. The judges are greatly delighted by many presentations and ideas which defy conventions, and are impressive in terms of innovation and feasibility. I have great faith in the creativity of the young people in Hong Kong, it is definitely worth to invest more in nurturing future talents. I look forward to exchange and collaborate with these rising stars of fintech. In the upcoming Convoy mentorship program, more new ideas and concepts will be raised and put into execution in a joint effort to promote FinTech in Hong Kong. Together, we hack for the future!”
Win a Convoy Mentorship and be part of the FINSPIRE Innohub
Thanks to the support of members of the industry, winners of FINSPIRE Fintech Online Hackathon will receive HK$100,000 in cash and prizes. All winning teams will be qualified for a 12-week Convoy Mentorship Program sponsored by Convoy Global Holdings Limited, as well as entrepreneurship training by MIT HK Innovation Node, where they will learn from the industry elitesand gain an indepth understanding of the latest trends in the market. All participants can register as a member of FINSPIRE Innohub, a fintech “alumni association” where they can get together with industry leaders as well as aspiring students and come up with innovative solutions for problems faced by various businesses today. The platform aims to facilitate exchange and collaboration between parties and further the development of financial technology in Hong Kong, while nurturing young talents with great potential in the field of FinTech.
The success of the first FINSPIRE Fintech Online Hackathon would not have been possible without the great support from partners in the industry, among them Convoy Global Holdings Limited, Hong Kong Cyberport, Microsoft Hong Kong and MIT Hong Kong Innovation Node. FINSPIRE will continue to launch various events in the near future, please stay tuned via official website (www.finspire.hk) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/finspire.hk).
About FINSPIRE
It is an innovative platform to inspire creative mindsets and to drive for changes. It aims to create upward social mobility opportunities for the younger generations in Hong Kong, so they can showcase their talents, incubate their innovations, turn ideas into reality, and help build the future of Hong Kong. FINSPIRE will engage in more collaborations with other technological and innovative corporations to provide more support and trainings for FinTech talents.
