Skinswap, an app that lets you create wallpapers on your phone bagged the ultimate prize of KSh1 million ($US11,800) at a 2-day hackfest hosted at Nairobi’s Startup Garage last weekend.
Mike Kivuva the app’s developer said he was extremely delighted to have won the Nokia Hackathon’s top prize.
“It’s a clear demonstration that Kenya’s mobile app developers, like me, have a great chance to place themselves on a global platform with locally relevant ideas,” he said.
Peter Karimi, Business Development Manager within EDX, Nokia East Africa said: “We are incredibly proud of the developers that won, as they rose to the challenge and pushed the envelope in developing applications that stood out with the judges. The energy and enthusiasm that the developers brought to this challenge was amazing and we encourage them to keep up the momentum.”
The two runners up included, Andrew Mutua who developed an app for financial management named “Mhasibu”. Jotham Nguri came in third with “Quick Drums,” a beat creation app.
The competition attracted 300 applications. Little less than half of that were shortlisted and 70 were welcomed for the Nokia codefest. Only 14 were presented to the judges.
“We had only expected 100 subscriptions but received over 300. This is a clear indication of the enthusiasm and determination our developers have to come up with rich apps that meet the specific needs of consumers. We will continue to reach out and partner with developers to build a vibrant local ecosystem.” Mr. Kirimi said.
This is the second hackathon held by Nokia. In May this year, the company held the first Nokia Ignite Hackathon, which saw a gaming app win US$5,000.
