FSI awarded over N50m to Fintech Startups in 3 years – Aituaz Kola-Oladejo

For fintech expert and CEO, Financial Services Innovators (FSI), Mrs. Aituaz Kola-Oladejo, Nigeria has become a hub for research and technology innovation.

She disclosed this at a media conference heralding the 3 year anniversary of the organization in Lagos during the week.

According to the CEO of FSI, a non-profit organization committed to enabling startups in technology and finance, the company has had both a direct and indirect impact on the country’s technology ecosystem through empowerment, entrepreneurship and mentorship over its three years.

Kola-Oladejo showcased the company’s many achievements since its launch in 2021, saying: “Our achievements include promoting open innovation among top players in the technology ecosystem and improving access to Fintech APIs. So far, 16 Fintech API partners including banks have already 321 API endpoints on the innovation sandbox, while 125 Minimum Viable Products (MVPs) have been created from the sandbox. With 728 corporate members, 3,438 individual members, 2,535 student members and over 1,900 participants in nine innovation challenges, FSI has really come a long way.”

Over the past three years, FSI has organized nine hackathons aimed at addressing financial inclusion challenges in agriculture, transport, health, trade and commerce, as well as energy. Also, the non-profit organization, which has members drawn from Africa, Asia, Europe, Central and North America, played a leading role in the promotion of innovative culture in tertiary institutions across Nigeria.

“Right now, FSI has 2,535 student members, 712 campus ambassadors since its launch in 2021, while three universities have shown interest in adopting the FSI platform for tech innovation,” explained Kola-Oladejo, adding, “FSI has offered 141 free start- up clinics, had 114 participants in our Business Validation series, while $81,000 US Dollars were awarded to winners of our innovation challenges to start operations as start-ups.On both a national and global scale, FSI has facilitated productivity through youth and start-up empowerment, and improvement of Nigerian technology products.”