Sterling Bank Plc has awarded its HEART Fellowship to five tech founders to enable them to participate in the Founder Institute (FI) Lagos Spring Virtual 2022 Cohort.

The recipients: Sikiru Salau, Olivia Chukwu, Charles Matthews, Maryann Efiong, and Michael Ayodele have each received a scholarship worth One Thousand Dollars ($1,000.00) to cover the cost of the program, which is scheduled to run for 14 weeks.

The award recipients are tech founders who have demonstrated creativity and employed innovative solutions to tackle challenges in the HEART sectors. The HEART sectors are Health, Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy, and Transportation.

Speaking at the award ceremony in Lagos, Head, Business Growth and Partnerships with Sterling Bank, Mr. David Adebayo, said the HEART sectors represent the focus and strategy of the bank. According to him, “A critical look at any of the chosen sectors indicates that any action taken to upscale the sectors would have a remarkable impact on the overall economy.”

He explained that it is because the bank understands it cannot do it alone that a decision was taken to partner with young tech talents in those sectors, that are doing things differently and to help them to scale.

The awardees and other participants at the award ceremony were exposed to mentors, including Oluyomi Ojo, Founder, Printivo; Olamide Afolabi, Managing Director, Touch and Pay Technologies Limited; Idowu Akinde, Founder, Boolean Labs, and Seun Abimbola, Co-founder of Rentit, among others.