About the Alliance Hack

We are delighted to announce the upcoming Alliance Hack, produced in partnership with the Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS). The Alliance Hack was born out of our growing understanding of the fintech industry’s blind spot when it comes to women-focused strategies. In our own research, we have found that while there is very little focus on the women’s market from either founders or funders, there is a strong business case, with a CAC:LTV of 1:3.

This year, Fintechs are invited to develop scalable solutions in five challenge areas:

  • Financing women-owned/led informal Very Small Enterprises (VSEs)
  • Financing women-owned/led formal Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
  • Building business capability of female entrepreneurs
  • Transforming mass market women’s Investment Capabilities
  • Identifying women-owned/led businesses within bank MIS

Fintechs are invited to customize their solutions to the following markets—Colombia, Brazil, Nigeria, Kenya, Singapore and all four South Asian countries—Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.

We encourage our members and ecosystem partners to spread the word to fintech’s in their network who might be interested in participating. We are thrilled to offer amazing prizes, including $25,000 USD for the top contender, and one-of-a-kind accelerator and mentorship opportunities for the runners up.

Eligibility Criteria

Formally registered technology-based start-up firms that primarily serve the financial services industry (fintechs).

FinTechs, InsureTech, RegTech, etc., with experience and willing to develop solutions to serve the Female Economy.

Possess a minimum viable product (MVP) or a product available on the market or ready to be rolled out in the market.

Mature enough to drive to POC stage with commercial banks.

Female founders and gender diverse teams encouraged to apply.

Prizes and Benefits

Women represent a huge business opportunity worth trillions of dollars–that has been largely underserved or unserved by the traditional financial sector. Through this e-hackathon, you can chart a path to becoming a chosen brand for female customers. Additionally, you’ll have the opportunity to pitch to high-level executives at established brands including the Monetory Authority of Singapore, and other major finserv institutions and network with industry leaders.

Up to US$25,000 Cash Prizes for winning team

First place prize is US$25,000 in addition to a 6-months free subscription to APIX

Winning fintech will have the opportunity to test and carry-out its POC with a select group of banks in aforementioned target countries, upon their approval.

Participate in International Acceleration Program

Three winners will automatically enter the finals for global accelerator programs.

Capacity Building Support

Top three winning teams will become a member of the Financial Alliance for Women for a full year, enabling access to a network of global financial services providers, mentoring and peer learning opportunities, and to the Alliance’s proprietary tools and knowledge products to develop their women’s market proposition.

Watch this space and prizes keep getting added.

Rules

This hackathon is open to fintechs in early to mid-stage development, including seed stage, raising/raised funds, or in the process of scaling.

Each team can submit one proposal per subcategory of the problem statement and can submit up to 3 proposals per company. The Alliance will allocate the selected team one subcategory of a problem statement from the team’s [three] preferred choices. Incomplete entries may be disqualified.

An independent selection committee will assess fintech proposals based on the following criteria: registration status, growth potential, minimum viable product (MVP) or product on the market, and the ability to impact women’s access to financial services. Selected fintechs will be invited to take part in the Hackathon from August 4 till September 15.

A panel of experts with relevant experience will be responsible for judging entries. The final decisions of the judges are to be based on the following parameters : Idea Validation, Innovation & Prototype, Impact on Women’s Market, Business Model, Customer Segment, Competitiveness and Scalability,  Team and Female Founders. 

The jury panel will assign a score to each parameter, which will then determine the ranking of each team. The hackathon winner will be the team with the highest total score.