One of the largest tech event in the world is closing its doors, with thousands of people having flocked to the Riyadh International Convention and Exhibition Center in Saudi Arabia’s capital to participate in discussions and witness world debuts in what would be one of many future tech events in the Kingdom.
The second edition of the LEAP23 Conference marked a significant turnout, with entrepreneurs and experts attending talks and browsing the venue’s many booths showcasing the latest tech products at what Michael Champion, regional executive vice president of Informa Markets, described to Arab News as “the fastest-growing tech event in the world.”
Meanwhile, from the team led by the Nigerian Minister of Communication and Digital Economy, Prof. Isa Pantami, two Nigerian startups won the final awards. In six categories, the Nigerian team won two out of the six globally and came 2nd in another category. The winners have $150,000 each.
The winners are:
1. The Into the World Award Winner (Prize – USD150,000)
Wicrypt:
Wicrypt is an innovative tech startup decentralising internet availability globally. The startup has a custom Operating System (OS) and hardware that allows users to share data with people around them and charge affordable rate. Hence, it enables providing internet access to unserved and underserved communities.
2. The Tech for Humanity Award Winner (Prize – USD150,000)*
RiceAfrika Technologies
– RiceAfrica is a tech driven agric optimisation startup that deploys IoT enabled harvester and it’s FARMEasy mobile app for smallholder farming communities in Africa. RiceAfrika believes Africa can feed itself and also feed the world.
Among the finalists is the Nigerian startup, Schoola. Schoola is an education technology solution that provides a gamified learning platform for primary and secondary schools. It also offers AI-powered content generation engine for lesson preparation to ease the task of teachers and bring the cutting-edge AI technology into classrooms.
On the third day of LEAP23, investment programs worth $2.43 billion were announced following the $9 billion deals revealed by the Kingdom’s Minster of Information Abdullah Al-Swaha.
Emerging and disruptive technologies are increasingly touching all aspects of life, and trends continue to develop and improve with time. LEAP23’s primary focus is to showcase the latest of these technologies.