Tag: award

NOW Money wins sixth award

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NOW Money, has won its sixth award in six months at the ArabNet Start-up Battle in Dubai.

On Sunday 23rd April ten start-ups were chosen to pitch to a panel of judges at the ArabNet Digital Summit in Dubai. Each company had the opportunity to show the judges why they deserve to win, and three companies were declared winners in the top three places. Being in first place ensured NOW Money a place in the Start-up Championships in May alongside FriendlyCar in second place and Wenaak in third. This gives all three companies a chance of receiving a prize of $20,000 cash, as well as a scholarship for the Blackbox Connect program in Silicon Valley.

The pitch was presented by Co-founder, Katharine Budd, who focused on how NOW Money are using fintech to solve an obvious problem, in the GCC and globally, that wouldn’t be financially viable without the use of technology.

As well as the ten pitches, the event featured a panel entitled “Supporting Corporate Growth through Innovation”.

For the final, Katharine will be attending the Arabnet Digital summit in May and competing against the other regional winners from countries including Beirut, Cairo, Casablanca, Riyadh and Kuwait. Each of the winning entrepreneurs have founded tech start-ups, which create innovative technological solutions to every-day problems.

“What an honour to have been awarded first place at ArabNet’s Start-up Battle” said Ms. Budd. “The competition had some really strong businesses and it was also a great opportunity to network with other start-ups in the region. We’re really looking forward to the final in May, where we can meet even more entrepreneurs and learn about the innovative solutions technology is bringing to the Middle East.”

“And to have won our sixth award is just incredible, we’re so glad that fintech as a path to financial inclusion is being realized.”

NOW Money wins Financial Inclusion award in the UK

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NOW Money has won the financial inclusion category of Pitch360, a competition at the Innovate Finance Global Summit 2017.

The competition took place on 11th April 2017 at the Guildhall in London, UK, and saw 24 FinTech startups compete for one of the eight winning spots covering different areas of FinTech, including Artificial Intelligence, Global Financial Inclusion, Block Chain, Personal Finance, Cross Border Payments, P2P Funding, Cyber Security and RegTech.

Ian Dillon, Co-Founder of NOW, gave the six-minute pitch, where he explained how the company’s FinTech offering will bank the “unbanked” population of the UAE using mobile technology to solve the current problem in the Middle East. He also explained how the solution could be instrumental in increasing security and reducing money laundering.

Ian was selected as the winner of the Financial Inclusion category due to his clear and concise explanation of the situation, and by showing how NOW is using the latest technology to provide a solution for this large, 26 million-strong neglected population group, which helps not only those who are excluded but will indirectly benefit their families overseas, including through access to credit.

“It was a pleasure to introduce NOW to a whole new audience,” said Mr. Dillon.  “We’ve had lots of exposure across the GCC and there’s currently a huge buzz around the FinTech sector. To be able to demonstrate NOW to industry experts in London and globally was so exciting for us. It’s hard to explain the situation to those who don’t live in the Middle East and experience the problem first hand, so to sum it up in six-minutes was a challenge to say the least! But we’re thrilled with the overwhelming positive response; the support we receive from a network of partners, particularly Innovate Finance, is phenomenal and so important in helping us to be part of solving the financial inclusion problem globally.”

 

NOW Money wins heavyweight title at Get In The Ring Abu Dhabi

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NOW Money has won Get In The Ring Abu Dhabi, an annual start-up pitching competition, which aims to provide resources and exposure to start-ups by setting them in a ring to compete against one another in a pitching “battle”.

The competition, which was organised and hosted at Abu Dhabi Global Market by Flat6Labs, on 28th February 2017, selected 20 start-ups to present a three-minute pitch to a panel of four judges, to proceed to the next round. Eight companies were then selected to have a pitch battle against one other opponent in the boxing ring. There were four rounds of one-on-one battles in three categories, lightweight (company valuation $0-500k), middleweight ($500k-2.5m) and heavyweight ($2.5m+), and across two streams, mainstream and fintech.

Anastazja Kociolkowska, Head of Product at NOW Money, led the pitch in the heavyweight category against fellow Astrolabs start-up, Democrance. Both competitors had one minute to pitch their company, followed by five rounds of 30 seconds to prove why their start-up should win the battle, based on team, achievements, business model, financials and a “freestyle” round.

NOW was selected as the winner of the heavyweight category due to Anastazja’s ability to articulate and demonstrate how NOW is a commercially viable company and aims to make a positive impact in the world.

NOW will be among the three winners (along with fellow start-ups Dinodrops and Point Checkout, lightweight and middleweight winners) to represent the UAE in the upcoming Get In The Ring Global Final in Singapore in May 2017, where all the country winners will compete to be crowned the overall champion.

“Having taken part in many start-up pitching competitions before, Get In The Ring was like no other,” said Ms Kociolkowska. “We were so thrilled to hear we’d made it to the second round to pitch in the ring. Thirty seconds for each round wasn’t long to get across all the benefits of NOW Money, and I wanted to really emphasise that our main aim is to bring financial inclusion, and to provide a holistic financial service to those who have been previously overlooked.”

Omar Kandil, Organizer and Host of Get In The Ring Abu Dhabi, and Program Manager of Flat6Labs Abu Dhabi said “We’re very proud as Flat6Labs to be hosting Get In The Ring with Abu Dhabi Global Markets for the first time in the capital of the UAE. The start-ups were very impressive and my sincere congratulations to all who participated! We wish the three winners all the best in Singapore! Go NOW Money, Point Checkout and DinoDrops!”

“Having a social component attached to a fintech start-up is something we’re seeing more and more, especially in a region where most of the population is unbanked. Good luck to NOW Money!”

NOW also won a booth to showcase their start-up at the Step 2017 Start-up Basecamp and will receive access to mentorship from Flat6Labs Abu Dhabi, the leading accelerator in the MENA region.

NOW uses mobile banking technology to provide accounts, financial inclusion and a range of low-cost remittance options to low-income migrant workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries, improving their lives and saving them and their families significant money, in a profitable and sustainable manner.

The partners who made this event possible were Wamda, Magnitt, in5, Entrepreneur Middle East.

NOW Money wins Best Start-Up at the Women in STEM Awards 2016

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NOW Money, The UAE’s new remittance app, has won the Best Start-Up for CEO Katharine Budd’s pitch at the prestigious Global Women in STEM awards.

The awards, which took place at Crowne Plaza Hotel, Dubai on 25 October, are in their 3rd year. NOW Money’s Katharine Budd was up against seven other companies with female founders on the team, and won the award based on the strength of NOW Money’s business plan and their potential to build an ecosystem of innovation.

Katharine Budd, the company’s CEO and co-founder, said: “This award means so much to us. Not only because it’s our first, but because it’s wonderful to see that our vision is coming to life and we’re being recognised for what we’re doing. We were inspired to create the app by Dubai’s 2021 plan – we want to help the country work towards that vision and lead the way for financial inclusion.”

NOW Money uses mobile banking technology to provide accounts, financial inclusion and a range of low-cost remittance options to low-income migrant workers in the Gulf Cooperation Council (‘GCC’) countries, improving their lives and saving them and their families significant money, in a profitable and sustainable manner.