Hexaloop

Hexaloop is a social enterprise that consists of an Online Waste Management System, a service-exchange portal.

Comment

Inspiration

Nigerians living below the poverty line has risen to 67% in 2018 according to Vanguardngr (source:https://www.vanguardngr.com/2018/01/67-nigerians-live-poverty-line-presidential-aide). Nigeria unemployment rate rose from 14.2% to 18.8% in 2017 according to the same source (source:https://www.vanguardngr.com/2017/12/nigerias-unemployment-rate-rises-14-2-18-8). Hexaloop is instituted with an objective of reducing poverty and unemployment in Nigeria. We will reach over 14 million Nigerians considering the fact we are utilizing platforms that leverage on smartphones and the internet. According to Wikipedia, 28,381,000 Nigerians are Smartphone users(source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_smartphone_penetration). And the number of internet users in Nigeria’s telecommunications networks has increased to 91.6 million in June 2017 according to the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) (Source:https://www.ncc.gov.ng/thecommunicator/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1572:nigeria-s-internet-users-rise-to-91-6m&catid=32&Itemid=179)

Nigeria generates more than 32 million tons of solid waste annually, out of which only 20-30% is collected (source: https://www.bioenergyconsult.com/solid-waste-nigeria). We estimate increasing the percentage of the waste collected to 50-70% in next 3 years. With this, we will be generating an estimated amount of $10-$20 Million. More than 80% of this money will be monetary value and incentive given to our users. We estimate having over 1 million transactions in our tutor platform in the next five year.

What it does

Hexaloop has three consistent scopes.

  1. Waste Management System (Trash): We are solving the problems of poverty and unemployment by allowing users to exchange waste for monetary value and incentives in easy and convenient ways using our web system and mobile software (Trash). There is also a pick-up service. Waste includes PET bottles, pure water sachet, nylon bags etc. and other waste streams such as Aluminum cans, Paper (old newspapers, old textbooks, corrugated cardboard, carton etc.), Glass bottles and Tires.
  2. Tutor: We have developed a system to connect interested youth to homes that need tutors. Our developed algorithm vets the tutor and rate them to make sure they are qualified and responsible. These help to keep the parents and their ward safe.
  3. Online Book Marketplace: Cheap books are sold on Hexaloop marketplace by allowing bookstores and publishers sell directly to parents and schools.

How I built it

Some of the tools used in the development include Facebook login SDK, Asp.net MVC core, React.js

Challenges I ran into

When rubbishes are exchanged for monetary value. The money comes in little trickles. This discourages new users. To tackle this we make sure every effort of users count and that they are constantly aware of their progress. We suggest tips on how to increase their productivity. We also share success stories of others to keep them encouraged.

Tutees and parents are always careful and protective of the personality and character of the persons that tutors them or who they leave their wards(kids) to. So, we get details of the kind of person the parent wants. With that, we match them to a tutor that best fit their detail. The judge and rate the performance of the tutor. With this, we know whether to refund the parent or pay the tutor and the percentage to pay or refund. Other factors like cost of transportation for the tutor, teaching conditions, etc are also considered.

Accomplishments that I'm proud of

We have the partnership and support of Chanja Dhatti Co. a waste recycling company in Abuja. Chanja Dhatti Co. I have published a paper on sentiment analysis and action prediction, developed a sentiment analysis and action. Development of an application that recognizes the voice and converts voice to text. So on mobile devices messages, text and document can be typed by mere reading or speaking into the mobile device.

What I learned

Some of the numerous things I have learned is how to build a successful start-up.

What's next for Hexaloop

We are currently developing a mobile software for Hexaloop, that will make it accessible to everyone easily and quickly. Reaching to every Nigerians and solving their problem of poverty and unemployment has been our objectives. The prize will be a catalyst to these. It will help us get the project to all six geopolitical zones of the country by December 2019. In addition to this, we want to make sure to parts of Africa as a continent.

We intend to add other services to the tutoring aspect of Hexaloop.

Built With

Share this project:

Updates