Safaricom has launched the 2^nd edition of the Appwiz challenge a developer competition designed to help identify and develop successful early stage mobile technology companies.

The challenge is focused on developing ICT businesses through provision of mentorship, training and incubation to allow start-ups further develop their prototype solutions before entering the market.

The contest which will run for a period of four months targets new app developers working in the mobile technology space, with a view to developing solutions to common problems within the Kenyan market.

Contestants with the most successful Mobile technology based solutions will have the opportunity to scale their start-ups through financial support from the prize money and partnerships with both government and private sector thereby making their business more successful.

Last year’s appwiz edition saw winners from various categories; finance, Agriculture, Health Games and entertainment, Education, product and utilities. This year’s edition expects applicants to develop solutions under;  Mobile for Good and Community Development, Smart Business and Cloud Innovation, Financial Inclusion, Youth, Entertainment, Games and Media and Infrastructure and Utilities.

The competition whose application submission closure will be on the 10^th August 2014, will operate on the website URL http://developer.safaricom.co.ke. Registrations and submissions will be done through this portal.

Through this challenge, the developers are taught how to attract investments through their solutions, how to manage and market their businesses in addition to mentorship and training. “At Safaricom, we are committed to ensuring that local ICT start-ups have the opportunity to grow into profitable enterprises. We want to grow the use of mobile technology in transforming lives in line with our agenda. Through this, we hope to complement governments’ efforts in attaining our economic blueprints to become a middle income country by 2030,” said Joseph Ogutu, Safaricom’s Director, Strategy and Innovation.

The ksh7 million worth project seeks to participate in the growing income bracket which is mobile applications which will possibly see Kenya become a top ten ICT hub by 2030.