Out of the 166 international applicants, only 11 companies were chosen to compete in the challenge.

The panel of judges included industry experts global FinTech commentator, Elizabeth Lumley and Yobie Benjamin, Co-Founder and CTO, Token.

The two companies that proved victorious were India-based banking digital solutions innovator, FRS Labs, and Singapore-based AI analysts, Silent Eight.

FRS Labs developed new technology that facilitates opening banks accounts using ID scanning and facial recognition using a mobile app. “The dream is to actually get a billion to actually use this,” says FRS Labs CEO Shankar Palaniandy, “That’s our dream, our dream is not to make millions or to drive a Ferrari, but to really touch the lives of a billion people in the next ten years.”

The other winner, Silent Eight, developed data analysis technology that will prevent financial crime.

Silent Eight CEO Martin Markiewicz expressed his gratitude at having his work be recognized saying “Every time we get into production, we stop financial crime, we stop money from flowing to be used for illegal arms purchase or to finance some terrorist activities, that’s one way of being rewarded for what we are doing. But this is a next level thing, we got an award!”