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A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to participate in Hack4Futo, one of the biggest hackathons at my university Federal University of Technology Owerri Nigeria. Out of 24 amazing teams, only 8 made it to the finals – and I’m proud to say that my team, šš¶š»š±š®, was one of them.
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šš¶š»š±š® š¶š š®š» šš-š½š¼šš²šæš²š± š²-š°š¼šŗšŗš²šæš°š² š½š¹š®šš³š¼šæšŗ designed to make online shopping ššŗš®šæšš²šæ and more š°š¼š»šš²š»š¶š²š»š. Instead of users spending hours searching through different marketplaces, Finda’s chatbot helps them:
Search externally across platforms like Jumia, Amazon, ebay and much more.
Compare products and prices quickly.
Get personalized recommendations based on their needs.
Connect directly with vendors, giving small businesses more visibility.
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Vendors pay ā¦1,000 to list their products.
For promotions and better visibility, they pay ā¦2,000.
We integrate affiliate links with platforms like Jumia, so we earn commissions while customers enjoy discounts.
A future premium version will offer vendors extra features like analytics and priority placement.
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I was responsible for building the backend with Django, and the journey wasn’t without hurdles:
šš£š šš°š°š²šš: We reached out to Jumia and Amazon for API keys. Jumia confirmed they don’t provide access, and Amazon hasn’t responded yet. As a solution, I integrated š¦š²šæš½šš£š to handle product search and keep the system running.
šš®šš®šÆš®šš² š š®š»š®š“š²šŗš²š»š: Optimizing PostgreSQL for speed and consistency.
šš²š½š¹š¼ššŗš²š»š & š¦š°š®š¹š®šÆš¶š¹š¶šš: Handling Redis, caching, and ensuring the system can scale for many users.
š¦š²š°ššæš¶šš: Protecting vendor and customer data while keeping the platform simple to use.
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We didn’t make the top 3, but we proudly came 4th overall – right after the winners. For me, that’s a big achievement, because this š·š¼ššæš»š²š was more about š“šæš¼šššµ, š¶š»š»š¼šš®šš¶š¼š», and šæš²šš¶š¹š¶š²š»š°š² than just the final ranking.
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Persistence matters more than setbacks.
Every technical challenge can become a stepping stone.
Teamwork transforms ideas into impact.
I’m truly grateful to my teammates for their hard work, to Hack4Futo for the platform, and to everyone who supported us along the way.
This is just ššµš² šÆš²š“š¶š»š»š¶š»š“ š³š¼šæ šš¶š»š±š® – we’re excited to keep building and scaling this vision.
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