Eurobank’s 3rd “Beyond Hackathon” Competition was successfully completed in June 22 – 24, 2018 in cooperation with the business partners Found.ation and The Cube.
The Regional Fintech Competition "Beyond Hackathon" is part of Eurobank’s consistent strategy to boost innovation and youth entrepreneurship, with the aim of upgrading financial services and products.
Twenty teams took part in this year’s Competition, following an evaluation process that preceded the final phase of the Competition. For another year “Beyond Hackathon” was supported by Eurobank Group Banks: Eurobank a.d. Beograd and Eurobank Bulgaria AD. Entries were submitted by teams from Greece, Bulgaria, the United Kingdom, the United Arab Emirates (Dubai) and Serbia. Especially regarding the participation from Greece, applications were also received from teams in different cities like Thessaloniki, Ioannina, Chalkida and Serres.
Mr. S. Ioannou stated: “Eurobank supports actively healthy and innovative entrepreneurs for their development in Greece and abroad. We are well aware that there are no borders in technology and we recognize the big challenges that the financial sector faces and in this light too. Supporting and further developing the Fintech ecosystem, being in its first steps in Greece, can prove to be in the benefit of all. Eurobank chooses to position itself in this field, actively and in time, implementing initiatives like “Beyond Hackathon”.”
Dr. M. Bountrogianni stated: “Ryerson University is delighted with the cooperation started with Eurobank. Although Ryerson and Eurobank may be separated by a great distance, this partnership is a strong demonstration of the power of international partnership. It is critical for Greek professionals as well to constantly keep their skills upgraded and have an eye on trends in the global market. I also cannot stress enough the importance of collaboration, perseverance and lifelong learning.”
During Beyond Hackathon, the participants were for the first time given the opportunity to use the Bank's advanced services, under the support and guidance of qualified and experienced executives in order to implement their ideas more effectively. In particular, all participants were given access to a fully functional dynamic API sandbox with advanced capabilities such as transfers and payments followed by change of account balance, transactions displayed in a transaction list, personalized accounts, etc. In addition, the teams also had the opportunity to access service accounts such as bluemix cloud IBM, Watson APIs for Al-based ideas, and APIs documentation via IBM Connect.
The prizes by Eurobank to the two winners of the Competition (€7.000 και €3.000 respectively) were awarded as follows:
- 1st Award went to the team “ExpendZen” with Nikos Pappas, Konstantinos Oikonomou, Konstantinos Triantafyllakis, Irini Degleri and George Mavridis. Their idea was about an expense management platform and corporate card payment solution that automates expense reporting and simplifies company spending.
- 2d Award went to team “Tenderly” with Vukoje Vukašin, Bencic Andrej, Urosevic Nebojsa and Habic Bogdan from Serbia. They developed a marketplace for small & medium sized enterprises that facilitates their cooperation with bigger companies based on private blockchain technology.
“Beyond Hackathon” was actively supported by global industry leaders in technology and financial services, Greek business associations and academic institutions that provided mentoring to participants throughout the Competition. Leading companies contributed to the Competition with in-kind sponsorships.
For more details please visit our website http://www.beyondhackathon.com/ and Facebook http://www.facebook.com/BeyondHackathon page.
Found.ation: Found.ation is a leading technology and innovation enabling platform in SE Europe, acting as a startup hub, a digital transformation accelerator for corporations and a tech education hive. We help educate people and companies in the digital mentality, technology platforms and tools, providing them with the skills for the future and creating a talent pool with new career opportunities. We connect corporations, startups and young talent in an ecosystem of entrepreneurship.Originally established in 2011 as one of the first co-working spaces in SE Europe, Found.ation has since developed to a fully-fledged consultant for the evolving business world in the new technologically driven reality. Since 2015, Found.ation has an exclusive agreement with EIT Digital, under the Arise Europe Program, with the objective of strengthening the Greek startup ecosystem, through the implementation of common, well-structured initiatives.
The Cube: A new startup cluster and innovation space in the heart of the city, hosting the best of Athens’ innovators in the technology and making space. The Cube is an evolution of the first co – working space in Athens where some of the most well – known startups made their first steps.
Beyond hackathon was supported by: Accenture, ACEin, Cosmote, Eurobank a.d. Beograd, Eurobank Bulgaria AD, Google, IBM, MasterCard, Microsoft, SAP, Startupbootcamp Fintech London, VIVA Wallet S.A., Warply.
Community Partners: egg - enter•grow•go, Ethelon.
Media Partners: EPIXEIRO.GR, STARTUPPER.GR.
Enablers: Vikos natural mineral water, soft drinks Vikos, εζα Fine Lager, εζα Premium Pilsener , ice creams KRI KRI, MAMAS fine catering & Olympos yogurt.
