🏆 WEMA BANK HACKAHOLICS 7.0: DIGITAL TRANSFORMATION
BRACKETRUSH
Africa's first tournament hosting platform built for competitive gamers: host, compete, and earn from gaming.
HACKATHON TRACK
Presented by Christian Ogunleye · Lagos, Nigeria
186M+
African Gamers
$20M+
Nigeria Esports Market
12%
Annual Growth Rate
0
Platforms Built for Africa
The Problem
African Gamers Have No Infrastructure
186 million African gamers compete passionately, but the tools they use to organize tournaments are embarrassingly primitive.
Tournaments organized through WhatsApp groups with zero structure or accountability
Entry fees collected via manual bank transfers: money disappears with no record
Brackets tracked on paper, screenshots or Excel spreadsheets shared in group chats
Prize money disputes with no resolution: players fight, communities break apart
Global platforms like Battlefy only support USD via Stripe: African players excluded
The result: African gamers are locked out of the $4.76 billion global esports economy, not because they lack skill, but because they lack infrastructure.
The Solution
BracketRush: Built for Africa
01
Host tournaments in minutes from your phone
Create brackets, set entry fees, manage players: all in one mobile-first app designed for how Africa games.
02
Secure payments via Paystack
Entry fees collected and prize pools paid out in Naira through Paystack. No USD required, no manual transfers, no trust issues.
03
Real-time live brackets
WebSocket-powered updates mean every player and spectator sees results the moment a score is reported.
04
Earn coins: host for free
Refer friends, earn BracketCoins, spend coins to host tournaments. No subscription needed to get started.
05
Built-in dispute resolution
Players upload score proof (screenshots). Organizers review and resolve. No more WhatsApp drama.
Market Opportunity
A Massive Market Nobody Is Serving
$4.76B
Global Gaming Server Hosting Market by 2032: CAGR 11%
186M+
Active gamers across Africa
$20M+
Nigerian esports market 2025
12%
Annual esports growth in Africa
90%
Gamers play on mobile: no platform
Our beachhead: Nigeria first (largest gaming market in Africa), then Ghana, Kenya and South Africa. Global expansion in Phase 3 targeting the $4.76B market.
Business Model
Four Revenue Streams
FREE
₦0 /mo
✓ Basic bracket hosting
✓ Up to 16 players
✓ Earn coins via referrals
✗ Ads shown
POPULAR
PRO
$9.99 /mo
✓ Unlimited players
✓ Custom branding
✓ Analytics dashboard
✓ Ad-free experience
ORG
$29.99 /mo
✓ Multiple tournaments
✓ Social media promo
✓ Prize pool management
✓ Priority support
🎟️
Entry Fee Cut: 8%
Platform takes 8% of every tournament entry fee. 100 players at ₦2,000 = ₦16,000 per tournament.
⚡
Tournament Boost: $7.99
One-time fee to unlock Org features for a single tournament without a full subscription.
Competitive Landscape
Why BracketRush Wins
| Platform | Mobile App | African Payments | Free to Host | Built for Africa | Dispute System |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| BracketRush | YES | YES | YES | YES | YES |
| Battlefy | NO | NO | LIMITED | NO | BASIC |
| Start.gg | LIMITED | NO | LIMITED | NO | BASIC |
| Challonge | NO | NO | YES | NO | NO |
| Gamr Africa | LIMITED | YES | NO | PARTIAL | NO |
Our moat: BracketRush is the ONLY platform combining mobile-first design, African payment infrastructure (Paystack/Naira), a coin-based free hosting model, and a dispute resolution system: all built by a Nigerian founder who understands this market from the inside.
Roadmap
From MVP to Market Leader
Phase 1: Q3 2026
MVP Launch (Nigeria)
Core tournament engine, Paystack integration, mobile-first web app. Launch with 10 beta tournaments.
Phase 2: Q4 2026
Mobile Apps & Coins
iOS & Android apps, BracketCoins system, referral program. Expand to Ghana and Kenya.
Phase 3: Q1 2027
Pan-African Expansion
South Africa, Egypt, Morocco. Partner with local esports organizations. Pro & Org tiers launch.
Phase 4: Q3 2027
Global Reach
Enter $4.76B global server hosting market. API for third-party integrations. Series A funding.
The Ask
What the Grant Covers
40%
Infrastructure & Hosting
Railway, Cloudflare, Vercel
Railway, Cloudflare, Vercel
25%
Legal Setup
US LLC, Trademark, Compliance
US LLC, Trademark, Compliance
20%
Marketing & Community
First tournament events, ads
First tournament events, ads
15%
Third-party APIs
Paystack, Stripe, Game APIs
Paystack, Stripe, Game APIs
CO
Christian Ogunleye (Timog)
21-year-old full-stack developer from Lagos. Built and deployed MarkLoom (markloom.dev), a live SaaS product with FastAPI, AI integration, and payment processing: proving the ability to ship production-grade software solo. Completed University of Helsinki Full Stack Open (5/5). Currently enrolled at Spraditech backend engineering program. BracketRush is built on a complete 17-section production-grade system design.